Hellhounds & Demons
by Brain in the Gutter
Summary: Heat spread throughout my body, tingling as it reached my toes and then doubling back, heading for the chunk of ice in the middle of my chest. I gasped in pain as a piece of ice broke off and melted, the air burning as it rushed into my lungs. BxJ AU. OOC
1. Chapter 1: Demonbrew

**Summary: ****H****eat spread throughout my body, tingling as it reached my toes and then doubling back, heading for the chunk of ice in the middle of my chest.****I gasped in pain as a ****piece**** of ice broke off and melted, the air burning as it rushed into my lungs. BxJ AU**

**Twilight and all it's characters are under the ownership of Ms. Meyers... I don't own.**

**Special thanks to Thetypewronger for her judicious red pen. And also to Taoist Elf for encouraging me to finally post this story. Both of them have some amazing stories, so if you aren't reading them… Not my fault!**

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**Hellhounds and Demons**

Chapter 1

Demonbrew

Cold.

So cold.

I hadn't felt warm since the day Edward left three years ago.

The sun might have been shining, but I never felt it. My heart felt like it had frozen into a lump of ice. The cold had slowly reached out to encase the rest of my body like a sickness. The sadness and grief turned to anger and hate. Then anger and hate turned to apathy and numbness.

It wasn't just Edward leaving me. It was the whole family. Their callous dismissal of me was more than I could take. My supposed best friend, my big brother, my parents. My family, gone.

Not even a goodbye.

I had a moment of reprieve when Jacob became my sun. His warmth slowly affected me, making room for new hope; the chance to live, to breathe again. It took him over a year and a half to heal what parts of me he could, but he was ever patient.

But like everything good in my life, it had to end.

The day Jacob came to tell me we couldn't be friends anymore, I was unsurprised.

He had met his imprint.

She never understood that Jacob wasn't anything more to me than a friend. Someone to lean on when I would fall over. The sun to warm my face. I was too broken for anything more.

I saw the utter betrayal on his face as he looked back at his imprint. She was watching our conversation with morbid fascination. He knew exactly what this would do to me. Yet another person to reject me who said they cared about me. I couldn't muster up enough emotion to hate him for it though. At least he tried.

At least he said goodbye.

The rest of the pack did their best to try and fill the hole Jacob had left. Embry and Quil would see me when they could, and even Leah and Paul made the effort to try and ease the pain of the 'fuck-up of all fuck-ups'. But they couldn't replace the feeling of warmth that Jacob had instilled in me. My sun had set, and I was in a perpetual eclipse.

That breach of hope, the break of trust yet again, just added to the cold surrounding my heart. Layer after layer built, the weight of it heavy in my chest. So heavy I drowned in it. Six more months of zombie like living, this time worse than the first.

I didn't realize how much it was affecting my dad until he threatened to send me to my mom's. Panic set in immediately. Not because I was waiting for Edward and his family. No, I was way beyond that. I knew that he, no _they_ were never coming back. That much I had burned into my psyche.

The truth was, I had finally found home. I loved living with my dad. His silence was comfortable. I knew that if I went back to live with my mom, I would be even more miserable. Constantly bombarded with nosy questions and awkward conversations. Trying to explain to her the cold around my heart would be hard. My discomfort in my own skin would make the whole situation worse.

After weeks of arguing, I finally convinced Dad that anything would be better than Jacksonville.

So that's how I ended up in Montana. A week after my twenty-first birthday, I was waiting at a Greyhound bus stop in Bozeman, Montana, for my Gramps to pick me up. I watched as his beat up truck pulled into the parking lot. It reminded me very much of my own truck back in Forks. It had finally died the week before I left, and was headed to the junkyard.

I got up as he slid out of the truck. There was a tingling in my toes when I looked into his gray eyes. I remembered the comfort and warmth his well-lined face always brought me. The hot summer nights spent on the porch whenever I would visit. It had been six years since I had last seen him. I knew I looked it, but he didn't.

"Well. Get your stuff. I'm sure you want to get warmed up." Gramps said cryptically. He gave me a once over, eyeing the old jacket I had stolen from Charlie before I left. If the silence with my father was a small comfort, Gramps refusal to speak unnecessary words was even better.

I grabbed my stuff and climbed up into the truck. The few buildings in town gave way to rolling hills that turned to forested lands. The giant pines kept silent watch as we passed by. It was about an hour before our turn off came up, which was marked by a large metal tree sculpture. Seeing the metal limbs reaching for the sky always filled me with joy.

We turned onto the dirt road that led to the house and workshops. The two-story, Victorian style farmhouse complete with wrap-around porch came into view. Gramps pulled up to the large workshop that was directly behind the house. There was a small corral and stable where Gramps housed a few horses. Lucifer, Gramps' stallion whinnied a greeting. I smiled as a warmth spread through to my fingers, the tingly feeling reaching out along nerves as if waking from sleep.

As soon as the truck grumbled to a halt, I hopped out and grabbed my bag from the back. "Same room?" I asked referring to the bedroom that had been mine in the summers I had visited before.

"Yup." he answered with a slight smile. "I'll be in the workshop." He said over his shoulder as he headed into the giant building.

Anticipation sweeping through me, I remembered the time spent in the workshop when I was younger. With shaking hands, I pulled open the old screen door and welcomed the first real emotion I'd felt since my heart had been ripped from my chest. Letting the door slam shut behind me, I rushed up the stairs, tripping only once, to quickly unpack. I changed out of my Converse, going with a sturdier work boot that had been left behind, and headed back downstairs and out of the house.

The smells that assaulted me as I walked toward the workshop flooded me with excitement as well as hope. I opened the door and the first wave of heat hit my face. My eyes slid shut as I reveled in it.

"Don't let the heat out." I heard snarled over the roar of the bellows. The door slammed shut behind me as I stepped further into the forge. The hiss of hot metal as it was immersed in water was music to my ears. "Do you remember any of this? Or are we working from scratch?"

Information popped into my head, some I thought had long been forgotten. It came spilling out of my mouth like verbal diarrhea. How to heat the coals. How long each of the forges needed before they were at optimal temperatures. Which metals blended well with each other. Designs and ideas that had only been half thought through when I was last here, took shape in my head, finally complete.

"Good. I don't have any jobs for you yet, but you can play with the scraps over there. You're going to have to get used to pounding metal again." Gramps said with a smirk. I was going to be sore tomorrow.

After donning the heavy leather apron that was hanging next to the door, I sorted through the scraps that Gramps had indicated. My hand gravitated to a dark piece of metal that had been heated too fast and had shattered. The metal piece went in the coals as I went to grab some tools from off the racks. I paused on my way back, looking at what Gramps was up to. He was assembling a large chandelier which looked like rain drops falling out of a large cloud.

"A collaboration piece," he said without turning around to me. "An old friend of mine did the modifications on the lighting unit and had me build the framing and add the raindrops. What do you think?" he asked as he attached the last drop to the chandelier.

"It's beautiful." I replied as he nodded and hung it from a hook hanging from the ceiling. He took a couple of pictures of it and then pulled it down and started disassembling it. Careful labeling of the pieces was done so that it could be put back together the way it was intended. It barely fit into the large box which was next to him.

I wandered back to my workstation, pulling the metal out of the coals as I went. The vapor trails wafted prettily as the temperature of the metal seemed to burn the air around it. The heat of the forge and the repetition of pounding on the metal soon soothed me into a relaxed state.

"You figure out what it wants to be yet?" I heard as I immersed the metal in the water for the last time. Pulling it out, I nodded my head and showed it to him.

"Dagger. Just needs an edge put on it. I'll fashion the pommel for it tomorrow." I said as he took it and turned it over, feeling along the edge.

"Looks good." he said as he handed it back to me. "Let's get inside. It's time for dinner." Shocked, I looked at the clock up on the wall. I had been working on the dagger for hours. Time seemed to disappear while I was working.

The coals were banked before we left. They wouldn't take that long to die out since the only hotspot was where I had been working. I hung up my apron and walked out of the workshop, realizing that heat suffused my body. I still felt like my heart was encased in ice, but I no longer felt hopeless about it. Like maybe it would start to thaw out the longer I stayed with Gramps.

"You know where the salt is." Gramps said as he held the screen door open for me. "Go soak while I make dinner."

I realized that almost all of my muscles were protesting against the exercise they weren't used to. A couple of rotations of my shoulders and a few of the kinks were worked out, but a soak in the giant tub with some epsom salt would take care of the rest.

Half hour later, I came back downstairs feeling better than I had in years. Gramps was just pulling two plates out of the oven when I walked into the kitchen. I took a seat at the table and dug in just after Gramps did. The silence was comfortable as we quickly finished dinner. Gramps set a small glass in front of me filled with a black liquid.

Eyeing it warily, I asked, "What is it?"

"Good for you. Just drink it." He said as he looked closely at me.

I knocked it back, coughing slightly at the burn as it went down my throat. It burned more than the stolen whiskey I had tried with Jacob. The heat spread throughout my body, tingling as it reached my toes and then doubling back, heading for the chunk of ice in the middle of my chest. I gasped in pain as a piece of ice broke off and melted, the air burning as it rushed into my lungs. Squeezing my eyes shut, I tried to make the pain stop as I remembered the words that broke me.

_My world is not for you._

Pain exploded in my head.

_I don't want you to come with me._

Sunbursts of color exploded behind my closed eyes.

_You're not good for me_.

Echoing through my mind, his voice only made the pain worse and harder to withstand.

And finally, I didn't have to anymore as blessed blackness rolled over and my consciousness fled.

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**This story is completely written. I hope to post 2 -3 times a week on a fairly regular schedule. Hope you enjoy!**


	2. Chapter 2: Heat

**This chapter's kinda short so I figured I'd post it early.**

**Twilight and all it's characters are under the ownership of Ms. Meyers... I don't own.**

**Pre-reader - Thetypewronger**

**Thanks Taoist Elf...**

* * *

**Hellhounds and Demons**

Chapter 2

Heat

"...the hell were you thinking? How could you let her get this cold!" Yelling pierced the fog that was surrounding my brain. It was quiet again for a bit and I felt myself sliding back into the comfort of that dark oblivion. "She's not old enough to handle it like you have. She still needs the heat! This is not just her heart, this could mean she won't be able to..." the words trailed off as the blackness swallowed me again.

"You're lucky I don't come out there and kick your ass, you little shit." My eyes snapped open at that comment and I was staring up at the living room ceiling. Pieces of what had happened slowly filtered into my head as I stretched and took inventory of my body. The chunk of ice buried in my chest felt smaller. The memories of that last night with Edward came flooding back but not with the pain that had previously accompanied them. The right side of my body protested as I got up and padded quietly towards the kitchen where the light was still on.

"She's up, I'll talk to you tomorrow." I heard Gramps say as I swung the door to the kitchen open and saw him hanging up the phone. For a moment he seemed larger than normal, but I dismissed it as a figment of my imagination when he turned to face me, his usual size.

"You're up. Good. Didn't want to have to call the doctor next. Ice cream?" he asked as he opened the freezer. He turned back with my favorite ice cream, chocolate chip cookie dough, grabbed two spoons out of the drawer and plopped the container down on the small table.

I looked at him curiously, "No questions about my health?"

"Eh, I knew it wouldn't kill you." He said as he took a bite of the ice cream.

"What the hell was that, Gramps?" slightly annoyed at his lack of concern.

"Good for you. Eat your ice cream or I will." Sighing, I dug into the ice cream, knowing he would follow through on his threat. We made quick work of polishing it off, and Gramps put the spoons in the sink and chucked the empty container into the trash. "Sleep, Bella. Tomorrow will be better."

"You sure about that Gramps?" I asked.

"Yup. It's Sunday, you have one more day of the forge all to yourself before the assistants and students will be in the shop." he said with a grin as I groaned.

"Same chores?" I asked, referring to the responsibilities of starting the forges in the morning that I had always taken on during my summer visits.

"Yup, I'll get you up at the same time." The twinkle in his eyes reminded me of all the good times I had with him during summer breaks.

"Night."

"Night, Bella." Gramps walked to me and kissed my forehead, the warmth of the gesture cracking another piece of ice off my heart. I walked up the stairs, got ready for bed, and fell into the soft mattress, ready for the next day to come along.

It was hard getting out of bed the next morning. The stiffness in my muscles was enough to make me want to just fall back into the warmth of the blankets and sleep forever, but Gramps knocked on my door early. I did my morning chores before heading back into the kitchen for some food. Breakfast was quiet as we both sipped on our coffee, content in the silence.

The fires were perfect when we went out to the workshop and we immediately fell into our projects. Letting instinct guide my hands, I watched feeling both pround and fascinated as the pommel took shape. I then wrapped some eighth inch thick wire around the grip so that it was easily held. Time slipped away as I worked to get the balance just right. When it was done, it was the perfect throwing dagger. Gramps wandered over as I was adding the finishing touches, eyeing the dagger as he approached.

"Very nice," he cocked his head in the direction of one of the beams before raising an eyebrow at me. "How 'bout you see how she throws?"

Biting my lip, I nodded once before facing the beams and letting the blade fly from my fingers. Awestruck, we watched the arc of the blade as it rotated, end over end, until it struck the wooden beam with a great thunk.

"Good. Haven't lost your touch." The last two summers that I had spent with him, Gramps had been able to sell most of the weapons that I had created for an exorbitant amount of money. _Earning my keep_, he would say with a chuckle. He still had a few of the more ornate ones mounted on the wall of the workshop and the farmhouse. I was completely shocked when he told me how much the first one went for and never asked how much they were worth after that. It helped me to create these things, these beautiful works fashioned of my blood, sweat, and tears. They gave me a clarity and peace of mind that I had been missing.

"The archery range is still set up behind the orchard, if you want. Equipment's in the shack." Gramps said, breaking me out of my daze. Looking up at the clock, I realized I'd lost track of time again and had been at it for three hours.

I walked to the range, stretching my arms as I went. It came into view, the white pebbles marking the distance from the targets. Rifling through the equipment I had grabbed, I smiled as I remembered making my first arrowheads. Gramps had been patient with me and explained how to make them. I had been determined that my way was a better way. Amazingly enough, I was right. Gramps said it was in the blood.

Looking back on the confidence I'd once had in myself and my abilities, I began to question how I ever become such a doormat for Edward.

_Since when did I let someone else dictate who or what I was?_ I notched my arrow, steadying my breathing as I concentrated on the target before me. The metal whispered to me as I let it fly through the air. The thunk as it hit dead center shattered another piece of ice from my chest.

The repetition of notching, pulling, breathing, and releasing was as soothing as the act of hammering out metal. Most of them were not as perfect as that first shot, but I was out of practice. As I pulled the last arrow, I heard a low rumbling sound that reverberated up from the ground. Glancing toward the noise, my gaze froze on three of the largest, meanest looking dogs I had ever seen. They were like overgrown rottweilers, black as pitch with golden eyes that glimmered as they stared me down in the fading light. Waiting for something.

_A command._

The one on the right had more of a bulldog build, bulky and bowlegged. The one on the left had the lean strength of a greyhound with a prankster's smirk. The middle one stood a couple of inches taller than the other two with a typical doberman build. His head tilted to the side as if contemplating whether or not to eat me. _King_ whispered through my head as I took in his regal bearing. He nodded once before the three of them melted into the inky shadows.

I released the last arrow along with the tension tightening my body. My attention didn't waver from where the dogs had disappeared even though I knew the arrow hit dead center. I could feel the arrow as it moved away from my body as if tied to a rope.

Shaking myself from my trance, I gathered the equipment and headed back to the house. I put the pack back where I found it and made my way into the house. Gramps was just putting dinner on the table, the long cord from the rotary phone dragging along the floor. "She just came in. I'll call you later."

"Who was that?"

"Your father."

"Ah," I held off my questions until after dinner, knowing that I wouldn't get an answer from him before.

"So," I started as Gramps finished off the last of the stroganoff, "you have any dogs around here?"

"No."

"You sure? I saw three huge dogs back by the archery range while I was there."

"There's no one around here that owns any dogs. Mr. Boone's dogs died last year."

"Oh, so they're wild?"

"Probably." Narrowing my eyes at him, I let the silence linger between us. Smirking, he looked away, all but confirming my suspicion that he knew more than he was letting on. We cleared the dishes and I headed upstairs for a soak and my bed.


	3. Chapter 3: Confrontation

**This chapter and the next are kinda short so I'm going to post two.**

**Twilight and all it's characters are under the ownership of Ms. Meyers... I don't own.**

**Pre-reader - Thetypewronger**

**Thanks Taoist Elf...**

* * *

**Hellhounds and Demons**

Chapter 3

Confrontation

Morning seemed to come earlier than normal and my muscles were even more stiff than they had been the previous day. I stretched in bed for a couple of minutes before dragging myself out of my cocoon of warmth. Getting ready was easy, and I looked back at my bed longingly before heading downstairs to start my chores.

The workshop seemed cold and lifeless without any fires burning or bellows wheezing. I started the main fires not knowing how many people would be working that day. After lighting the fires along my favorite station, I shuffled through the scraps and rejects, bent on finding something that I could salvage. Fingers grazing against a large dark piece of metal, a small fission of energy snaked up my arm. I pulled it out of the scraps and left it at my workstation before returning back into the house for breakfast.

Gramps seemed quieter and more foreboding than usual, thick brows furrowed heavily over his dark eyes as he sipped his coffee in thoughtful silence. It made me think about what today might bring. In the past, the first couple of weeks with Gramps was usually kind of hard. There was always some blowhard that had to prove that he was better than me. They generally spewed such lewd, egotistical comments that one year, I avoided working in the shop except at night. Gramps had put a stop to that pretty quickly once he figured out what was going on. After that I learned to ignore the others, instead letting my work speak for itself.

I headed back into the workshop, while Gramps waited outside as the vehicles started showing up. One thing about Gramps, was that he expected punctuality. You could set a watch by him.

Once back in the workshop, I checked the fires and got the main ones properly banked and moved to my station. Stretching my muscles first, I began my work on the piece of metal that I'd been drawn to. Every time the hammer fell, I could feel the sizzle and snap running up my arm. Knowing exactly how the metal was shaping with each and every blow. It was as if I could have done it without using my eyes. The sounds of the bellows, ring of metal being hammered, and the hiss of water as hot metal caused it to steam was music to my ears as I continued to work my own piece of metal.

I was lost in the rhythm of the metal when I sensed someone approach me from behind. Pausing my work, I waited for them to speak, a flicker of dread deep in my stomach.

"You're in my spot," The voice was gruff, thick with an unwarranted confidence that made my skin crawl.

Turning, I let my eyes travel over the muscled body before me, unsurprised to find his lips curling into a cocky smirk at my appraisal. Letting my eyes speak for me, I rolled them before locking onto his gaze. One brow quirking, I silently dared him to challenge me again. Chiseled face falling slightly, I watched as some of the bravado dissipated from his eyes.

"I've had that spot all last year. You need to find somewhere... else." Voice laced with wariness, he shifted his weight from one foot to the other, running dirty fingernails nervously through his blond hair. Body half twisted, hammer and metal tongs in striking position in my hands, I could do nothing more than stare at him as anger boiled in my stomach.

"Who... who _are_ you?" Confidence shattered, he backed up a step, hands raising a little in front of him, as if in surrender.

From the corner of my eye, I vaguely registered the approach of another person. As Jack, my favorite of the workshop assistants, came into view, he clapped his aged hand over the withering shoulder of the blond boy.

"Why don't we find you another station, kid?" Jack turned his head as he tugged the boy away, winking at me.

The whining sounds of the arrogant boy faded away as the two of them walked to the opposite side of the workshop. Turning back to my project and I continued on as I felt another person approach. This one, however was someone who was always welcome. I did a head nod to acknowledge his appearance as Gramps asked the question he always asked me, "You know what it wants to be yet?"

"Yup, new pair of tongs." I said in between swings.

"Anything wrong with the ones you're using?" his nonchalance was comforting in this instance. The normal banter between the two of us.

"Nope, just a feeling I'll need a my own set." I was letting the metal tell me what it wanted. Gramps said his best inspirations came from just feeling the metal, letting it decide for you. I was finally understanding what he meant by that.

"You going out to the range tonight?" he asked quietly.

"Yup."

"Feel free to leave a little early if you need to."

"Will do." Since the tongs were mostly done, I finished up and headed out to the range. I was half hoping, half dreading seeing the giant dogs again. They looked as if they were well fed and wouldn't try to eat me. _Hopefully__._

I didn't see the dogs this time. A small fission of disappointment ran down my spine as the last arrow buried itself deep into the target. Half way through the arrows in the quiver, I noticed that I could feel the pull of the metal as I released, causing me to hit the target more often than not. The imperfections in the metal were whispering at me, telling me which way the arrow would lean to because of them. It confused me at first, but I slowly got better at listening to the metal. The last quarter of the arrows were all dead center.

After finishing up, I packed my bags and returned back to the storage shed to put away the borrowed equipment. Nearly silent footsteps approached me just like earlier in the workshop. Before turning, I palmed the dagger I had finished yesterday.

I always liked the boy scout motto.

Be prepared.

"Yes?" I asked with one eyebrow raised.

"Who the hell do you think you are? You've only been here for five seconds and I doubt you'll last much longer than that." he sneered. I couldn't stop my chuckle at his self-righteous indignation.

"I don't have to explain myself to you." I said with quiet intensity.

"Well, I don't like you. I think you should leave. You're nothing but a troublemaker." His bravado was back, his pride only temporarily wounded from our earlier skirmish.

"Too bad your opinion doesn't mean anything to me." I said.

"You're a no good, self-important whore that needs to be reminded of her place here. Why don't you just move on back to wherever the hell you came fro-" his words cut off as the dagger I had thrown bit deeply into the wood behind his head. I watched, disinterested, as the blood beaded up on his ear where the blade nicked him.

"Don't threaten me. I have more right to be here than you ever will." I barely recognized my own voice, the words coming from my mouth in a menacing half whisper. His eyes grew wide as I closed the space between us, lifting my arm to retrieve the dagger from behind him. Pausing, I eyed his bleeding ear. "You might want to get that looked at. You never know what can happen."

The smell of urine followed me outside as I headed back towards the house. Typical, stand up for yourself and you end up scaring the natives.


	4. Chapter 4: Blades

**Here's the second for the night...**

**Twilight and all it's characters are under the ownership of Ms. Meyers... I don't own.**

**Pre-reader - Thetypewronger**

**Thanks Taoist Elf...**

* * *

**Hellhounds and Demons**

Chapter 4

Blades

The rest of the month flew by quickly, the heat of the forge and the new whisperings from metal served to melt the ice in my heart even more. With every release of the bow and hammer of metal, I let go of a little bit more of the hurt and the pain. The piece of ice in my chest seemed to become just a sliver.

Whenever I was outside, I would catch flickers of shadows on the edge of my vision. I thought back to the three dogs and wondered how they were doing. Hoping they were safe.

The scrap pile grew smaller as I created more and more little projects from what was there. Most of them were throwing daggers similar to the first one I made. One day, after everyone had left, I asked Gramps to order me some specific types of metal, showing him some sketches I had been working on. Most of them were blades, both long swords and short. He looked at me curiously, "You taking an interest in swords now?"

"I've always made swords." I replied.

"You've always made _weapons_." He emphasized. "You've never really taken an interest in any specific type."

"Huh," I said thinking about it. "Guess I never really noticed what I worked on. Just worked on what was best at the time."

"I'll get this ordered for you. Going on a run into town, you need anything?"

"Nope." I said.

"Alright." He said before bussing me on the forehead.

I went back to my station and pulled out my latest project. It was a strange metal that I wasn't familiar with but like everything else that I had been working on, it just called to me. The metal was pitch black, with a slight iridescent sheen to it. I didn't ask Gramps where it came from, just picked it up and the end product was in my head. From the moment I touched it, I knew it was going to be a sword. Short, very sharp, and something that would be well suited to someone of my stature.

The blade and pommel had been finished, I just had some finishing work I wanted to add to it. I had started adding some intricate scrolling to the flat of the blade, that started close to the pommel and ran down about half way. Letting my instincts guide me, I placed the scrolls as I went, not following any pre-designed paths.

After finishing that up, I put the fires out for the night, grabbed the archery equipment, and headed out to the range. I was on the last arrow yet again, when I heard rustling along the bushes. My eyes shifted over to where I had seen the dogs the first time, and there they were. Inky pools of black with glowing golden eyes stared back at me as I let go of the last arrow.

I met the eyes of the one in the middle and an instant connection threaded between us. _King_ came to mind once again as I took in the way he held himself. My eyes shifted to the greyhound-like dog and _Demon_ rang in my head as the connection between us formed. I glanced over at the last one and heard, _Brimstone_ as the last connection in the braid was formed. Words tumbled from my lips before I could stop them, "Been worried about you."

The three of them trotted up to me, and I stretched out my hand for them to sniff. King, the one from the middle licked my hand and began to circle me, sniffing as he went. Demon and Brimstone sat back as if waiting for confirmation. The three of them looked up into my eyes and between the three of them I heard the word, _Ours_.

Next thing I knew, I was on my back with the three of them trying their best to lick my face off. Giggling, I tried to push them off of me so that I could sit back up. I failed since Brimstone was sitting on my stomach. Finally, I got them to back off and let me up.

"Let's go home." I said as I collected the arrows and stuffed them back into the bag. After storing the equipment in the shed I walked up to the back porch, pausing for a moment. I wasn't entirely sure what Gramps would say about having three wild dogs in the house.

"You going to stay on the porch all night? Dinner's ready and I'd like to eat." I heard through the open windows.

I hesitantly opened the screen door, and Brimstone nosed past me, followed by Demon. King butted the back of my legs forcing me to get moving again. Gramps sat at the table, Demon and Brimstone wagging their tails like puppies and sniffing around him. King's head was underneath my head, reassuring me of his presence.

"You keeping them?" Gramps asked. He got up and started pulling dinner out of the oven for the two of us.

"I think they're keeping me." I answered, sitting down at the table.

"Alright, just make sure they're fed and watered." He tilted his head towards the open pantry, where a giant bag of dog food was on the floor.

"That wasn't there yesterday." I commented as I started to eat.

"Figured you'd need it." He said. I stared at him, wondering how he knew that I would be bringing the dogs back with me.

"How?" I asked bluntly.

"Lucifer." The fork clattered to the table as I paused in my eating.

"Your horse?" I asked, completely confused.

"Have a connection with him. Just like you have with these three." He nodded towards the dogs.

"Explain?" The statement came out more like a question than the demand I meant for it to be.

"I knew you would have a connection with them the moment you spoke about them your second day. Just like I have a connection with Lucifer. Family trait." He explained. "Just a matter of time till you brought them home. Lucifer said it would be tonight."

"Oh." I went back to eating, thinking about what he said. "Wait, you said family trait. What are you talking about?"

He sighed, "Guess it was too much to hope for that you didn't catch that. Can't explain right now. You'll learn more in a bit."

"How long is a bit?"

"When you're ready."

"I'm ready now." I stared him down.

"No, you're not. You may think you are, but I'll explain it when I know you're ready to hear it." A stubborn look came over his face and I knew there would be no more answers tonight. I couldn't help but hold his gaze a little while longer, trying to get him to give up more information, but he wouldn't give. There was nothing to do but let it go for now.

The warmth from the dogs seeped into me as Demon and Brimstone laid along my feet, King leaning up against my thigh. We finished dinner quietly and I cleaned up the kitchen. When I finished with that, I pulled Gramps out to the workshop to show him the sword I had been working on.

"You keeping it?" He asked as he admired the scrollwork along the flat of the blade.

"Hadn't thought about it. Why?" I asked.

He gave me a funny look. "You wrote your name on it."

"No I didn't." Confused for the second time that night.

"Yes, you did. Look right here," he pointed to the scrollwork. "Says your name."

I looked closer at the sword, and sure enough, there was my name. "I was working on it the other way around. Guess I never noticed that."

He hummed out a non-committal reply before handing the sword back to me and heading back towards the house. The dogs circled me once and then King butted against the back of my legs, once again herding me where he wanted me to go. I quickly got ready for bed and had to shove Brimstone out of the way before I could pull the covers down. The three of them huddled around me and I fell asleep for the first time in a long time completely warm, the last of the ice finally shattered from off my heart.


	5. Chapter 5: Lessons

**Twilight and all it's characters are under the ownership of Ms. Meyers... I don't own.**

**Pre-reader - Thetypewronger**

**Thanks Taoist Elf...**

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**Hellhounds and Demons**

Chapter 5

Lessons

The next Saturday, I was walking back from the archery range when I saw a car in the driveway that I didn't recognize. The dogs headed straight for it, sniffing around all the tires. I hissed at Demon just as he was lifting his leg to piss on the tire. He immediately looked up at me with puppy dog eyes and I slowly shook my head at him.

I walked up the porch steps quietly, hearing the buzz of conversation as I got closer. "... starting to warm up."

"Good, good. Anything else?" I heard an unfamiliar voice ask.

"Doesn't realize when she's playing with the coals, getting them to heat back up without looking. I'm just worried she's going to... Bella, that you?" Caught, I walked a little heavier towards the door, whistling to the dogs to come. Demon tripped Brimstone, who knocked heavily into me before falling to the floor. King snapped at Demon, who turned and snapped back at King. I snarled at the two of them, and they immediately dropped away from each other and came up to me and licked my hands in an apology. Opening the screen door, I shooed them into the house, knowing their bowls would be full for their dinner. Gramps claimed that I would have to take responsibility for them and keep them fed, but most of the times he'd beaten me to it. I think he liked to spoil them more than I did.

"Bella, this is David Casey. He's your cousin." Gramps said, indicating a tall lanky guy with black hair and blue eyes. He had to be in his mid-thirties.

"Distant, but cousins, yes." He said as he held out his hand to shake.

"Nice to meet you." I said as I took the offered appendage. His hands were rough with callouses, similar to my own.

"You as well." His eyes sparkled as if he knew a secret and wasn't about to tell me.

Gramps started pulling dinner out of the oven, three plates this time instead of two. "He's staying for a bit, he's going to be teaching you a few things."

I looked back over at David with a raised eyebrow before sitting down at my seat. King, Demon and Brimstone curled up at my feet, having finished their own dinner.

"I'm going to teach you how to use that pretty sword you just made." David answered my silent question.

"Oh. Okay." I said cautiously, not completely at ease with this idea.

"Your Gramps said he taught you a bit, but that it's been awhile since you've actually done any training." David commented.

"Yeah, he and I used to spar with wooden swords he made for us, but that was just playing." I said.

"Knowing your Gramps the way I do," he said with a smile that put me at ease. "I'm sure there was a lot more that you learned than you realized. We'll start first thing in the morning and find out what you remember."

I nodded my head and continued eating. The rest of the meal was spent in a comfortable conversation. I cleaned up the kitchen, as Gramps and David took their cups of coffee out onto the back porch. Once finished, I headed up to bed.

And so it began. Most of the time I had no problem with getting up at the crack of dawn to run through the exercises David thought were necessary. The first six weeks were painful as my body got into the regime of training. The last couple of months pounding metal had built up my muscles and stamina, but this was different. I remembered a lot more than I had forgotten so David was pleased with my progress. Between the fighting, smithing, and archery, my entire body got toned. I had never been overweight, but the little pudge on my stomach disappeared, as well as the little flabby parts on the back of my arm. Everything toned up and tightened up.

At first, we were sparring with wooden swords similar to the ones Gramps had made years ago. After a month, we switched to the sword I had written my name on and David pulled out a longsword that he caressed as if it were a lover. Things became easier as the strange affinity for metal I had noticed with the arrows started showing itself with the sword I had made. I could anticipate where David was going to be attacking from next. My sword became like an extension of my arm. David once bragged to Gramps that I was so accurate with it, I could do major surgery.

After a while, we had trouble keeping the dogs from trying to fight with me. In the beginning, they had kept to the sidelines watching David and I fight. Demon seemed to be focused on David, Brimstone concentrated on me, and King's attention was split between the two of us. Two months into training, David caught me unawares and sliced through the leather jerkin I was wearing and into my arm. The three of them immediately attacked David, bringing him down quickly. Gramps had wandered out and saw the whole thing. "You're going to have to let them fight, too." he said with a smirk.

"Awe, shit. I was hoping I could put it off for longer." David blustered.

I cocked an eyebrow at my Gramps and he explained a little further, "They're meant to fight with you. Don't know how they've been holding back so far. Lucifer is the same with me. Family trait."

_Family trait my ass._ He says that like it actually explained something.

"I'll call Matthew in the morning." David said.

"Who's Matthew?" I asked.

"He's going to help you learn about fighting multiple opponents. With your _dogs_." He slurred the last part with disapproval as he sneered at my boys.

"Hey, you don't get to disparage my dogs!" I was overwhelmed by a burning rage at the perceived slight against them.

"I wasn't insulting them, I was simply indicating my disgust of calling them dogs."

"What would you call them?" I shot back. My hands twisting hard on the pommel of my sword. They itched to shove the sword straight into his gut.

"Hellhounds. That's what they are." At my blank look, David sighed. "Legends tell of packs of hounds that haunt humans just before they're about to die. No less than three, no more than seven."

The rage disappeared as fear crawled up my spine, "I'm going to die?"

"No, they're not haunting you. They claimed you." David assured me.

"Oh," I said as relief flooded my body. "Alright then. Fighting?"

We took our stance as my _hellhounds_ positioned themselves around me. King slightly in front and to the right, Demon a step behind me on my right, and Brimstone on my left. This seemed odd at first, but then settled into my bones as being right.

As I continued to train with the hellhounds, the occasional words I heard from them became clearer and more often. It was like I was opening myself up to them more so that I could anticipate where and when they would be attacking so I could use it to my advantage. Odd times during the day I could hear them, such as whenever Brimstone was hungry, I could hear a soft chant of _food, food, food_ in the background. I could keep Demon from pranks more often because I heard the telltale snicker from him before he tripped Brimstone, or upended King's water bowl.

Being around the hellhounds so much reminded me of being around the pack. Reminders of the pack reminded me of Jacob. Every time I thought of him, there was a subtle twist to my heart as I missed him. I wondered how his imprint was going and if she treated him well. His friendship meant more to me than I had realized and it was in the quiet moments, that I missed him the most.

Matthew showed up a week after David called him and we continued to train with the hellhounds. The four of us grew tighter as a fighting unit, them anticipating the way I would move and more often we could beat the two of them. Gramps started joining in on the training sessions on weekends, making it nearly impossible for me to fight him at first. I quickly got over that as Gramps kept coming at me.

Two months later was when it all came to a boiling point. Gramps got a hit into my chest, making me lose my breath, and I got angry. The three of them were no match for the four of us at that point. Rage overtook my vision and didn't release me until all three of them were on the ground. I had my sword under Gramps' chin when my vision cleared.

"Good, good!" Gramps said as I quickly pulled the sword back and put my hand out to help him up. Demon and Brimstone were sitting on Matthew and David, but I called them off and they came over to me and licked and nudged at my hands. I scratched both of them as a reward for taking down Matthew and David.

"I knew you had it in you!" Gramps said, chuckling to himself.

"What are you talking about?" I asked confused.

"That rage you felt?" I nodded my head. He continued, "You need to learn to release it, harness it, and use it. There are many things that go bump in the night, and you need to know how to bump back."

_Great, more cryptic shit._ I thought. _I wonder if he knows about vampires and werewolves, too?_ I looked at him and his face was back to being unreadable again. I knew I would get no more answers out of him today.

"Go clean up. David, Matthew and I have much to discuss." Gramps said. I rolled my eyes and headed back to the workshop to clean off the grime coating my skin. The walk back was quick.

All three of the dogs were rough housing back and forth on the way. They ran off towards Lucifer when I got to the door. The four of them had started this weird communication thing ever since we all started fighting together. My boys would spend about ten minutes sitting in front of Lucifer as if deep in conversation. Every once in awhile I would get snippets of their conversation. Mostly it seemed like they discussed the day's sessions and how my training had been going. I only ever heard from the hellhounds, not whatever Lucifer was saying.

As I walked into the workshop, I started up one of the fires and headed into the washroom. I left my sword on my workstation, leaving the bloody sword to be cleaned later. My reflection stared back at me after splashing water on my face. What was it about me that attracts danger? I peered at myself, hoping to see what it was. All I could see was an ordinary girl staring back at me.

"Exquisite" I heard from inside the workshop. A smell so strong it seemed as if I could taste it was coming from the same direction as the voice. It was overpoweringly sweet and cloying. "You smell even more mouthwatering than I remember, my dear Isabella."

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**A/N: I send out sneak peaks in exchange for reviews… **


	6. Chapter 6: Fight

**Hellhounds and Demons**

Chapter 6

Fight

_"You smell even more mouthwatering than I remember, my dear Isabella." _That voice, one that has haunted many of my nightmares.

"I thought you were dead." I said as I stepped from the bathroom.

"Yes, you would assume that, wouldn't you." Laurent's red eyes gleamed in the light from the forge. My sword was on the other side of the room, and I had no idea if it would work on him or not. I doubted it, but I had to try something. "Those dogs knew enough to tear me apart, but not enough to burn the pieces. I dare say they've learned from the experience."

"What do you want?" I asked. I tried to keep him busy as I edged closer to where my sword was. I could feel the heat of the forge to my left as I got closer to it.

"What I've always wanted. Blood." Laurent stepped a bit towards me as I edged closer to where I could get to my sword.

"What about Victoria? I thought she wanted to kill me?" I asked trying to stall.

"Oh, she's a bit distracted right now. She thinks those that gave me this," Laurent drew his finger across the scar on his neck where he had been decapitated and continued, "are fun to play with. She thinks they still protect you."

"How did you know where I was?" I shuffled a bit more. I was getting closer. So close, but yet too far.

"Easy. When Victoria found me, she put me back together. It didn't take too long to figure out that you were no longer at home. Victoria thought you were on the reservation, but wanted to be sure that you weren't somewhere else. She sent me out to find you yet again."

Five steps to the sword.

"The first place I checked was the house in Arizona. No one was there." Four steps. "James had easily found it, and I just continued going through his list of places to check." Three steps. "I found your mother in Florida." Two steps. "She was, nearly just as mouthwatering as you are my dear." One. "She, however made no protest as her blood slipped down my throat."

I pulled my sword up and pointed it at him. "You _killed_ my mother?"

"And what do you think you are going to do with that? It's more likely to shatter on impact than do any harm."

"I said, you killed my mother?" Pain flared but I tamped it down, not willing to let it distract me.

"Yes, she was quite tasty." Laurent continued. "Renee was quite willing to take a stranger into her home to use the phone. It was convenient that her husband was there, too. Made it easy to leave no evidence behind of my presence. Made it look like a murder/suicide. So messy these things."

"I will kill you." I said as I heard a low growling coming from the door.

"I know you think you will try, but I think that we both know what the outcome will be." Laurent turned toward the door, and in the moment of his distraction, I stuck my sword in the forge, waiting for it to get hot. I had no idea why this seemed like a good idea, but I had learned to trust my instincts. "Now what could that be? Did you acquire some pets? I'm sure they would make a nice distraction for the police."

"No, they're hellhounds, doubt you would be able to get away from them." I could hear them scratching at the door.

"Hellhounds, my dear? They are just a myth." Laurent said as he turned back towards me. I pulled the sword out of the fire and the steam curled around it. It wasn't hot enough to soften the metal, just heat it up.

"Are we back to that again? Doesn't matter, it won't stop me from taking you." He lunged towards me, and rather than being faster than I could see, I followed his movements as if he was walking through water. I swung the sword, and as he went to catch it, it sliced through his hand. The venom began to pool on the floor as it dripped quickly from his hand.

"What is this?" Laurent asked himself as he raised his hand to look at it.

"It's the end of your existence." I stated as I started to fight in earnest. I could feel the rage welling up within me, the loss of all that I have had to endure, friends, _Jacob_, family, _Renee_, swelled from deep down inside of me as he continued to evade my blade. He jumped, dived, and dodged me all over the workshop, throwing things at me in an attempt to slow me down. The anger, the desperation to keep this _monster_ from harming another one of my family, from harming me, caused me to move faster, fight harder. I could see the panic in his eyes as I closed in on him.

He wasn't quite fast enough as I swept my sword low and cut off his leg at the knee. "Victoria will avenge me."

"That may be true, but she isn't here to save you." I said as I reached back and put my hand in the fire. It didn't hurt as I expected it to. The fire danced around my hand willing to do what I asked. I grabbed some of the embers, the flames dancing around my fist before throwing them at the venom dripping down his leg. "_Burn._"

The fire quickly engulfed him, his venom being quite the accelerant. He burned to nothing but ash quickly, the fire amazingly not touching anything else in the workshop. The pungent smell of burned vampire was stronger now, than what I had remembered from Phoenix.

I leaned over, put my hands on my knees and took in a deep breath. All I could think was _what the fuck?_ as I tried to process what had just happened.

The door burst open, first the hellhounds pouring in like shadows as Gramps, David, and Matthew came through the door and crouched in a defensive stance. All three of the hellhounds were snarling and the other three had fierce looks in their eyes. Changes in their appearance were catalogued quickly. All three of them looked larger than they normally were, each topping out around seven feet. Gramps looked closer in age to my Dad than how he looked before. They each had razor sharp claws on the tips of their fingers. All of a sudden a ball of fire jumped from the forge into Gramps' hand, sitting there dancing along his skin. David and Matthew snarled, fangs bared, and small horns flared from the top of their heads. King and Brimstone raced towards me as Demon pissed on the ashes of Laurent.

"What the _hell_?" I shouted, completely confused by their appearance. All three of their heads swiveled around to find me. Once they realized that I was the only one in there, their claws, horns, and fangs retracted, as well as their bodies shrinking back to their normal height. The fire dancing along Gramps' hand snuffed out as he closed his fist.

"Bella." Gramps said as he started towards me.

"No." I said as I lifted the sword up into an aggressive stance. All three of the hellhounds growled at him. "You will answer my questions Gramps. What the hell are you?" I demanded.

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**A/N: I know it's a super short chapter. I will post again tomorrow.**

**And I also know that it's not Canon in that Laurent wasn't burned by the wolf pack… But it's my story and I get to mess with it like that! XD This story is AU for a reason! Thanks for reading!**

**Thanks to all those who review as guests. Since I can't reply to you directly, thank you very much for all your kind words!**


	7. Chapter 7: Explanations

**Hellhounds and Demons**

Chapter 7

Explanations

"Guess you're ready to hear it after all." My sword wavered as I relaxed a bit. Demon bumped heavily into David as he made his way towards me, causing David to teeter on his feet.

"Damn it, Demon," David yelled.

All three of my hellhounds sniffed around me, King placed his paws on my shoulders and sniffed at my face. He stared at me and I could see the fear that he had felt flicker in his golden eyes. "I'm alright." I reassured him as I scratched behind his ears.

_Good_, I heard before he snorted once and headed towards the door. Demon and Brimstone followed after him.

"Guess they think we should have this conversation elsewhere." Gramps said. "Why don't you go take a shower, and we'll have lunch while we talk. I'm sure you want the smell of leech off of you."

"I'll get answers?"

"Yes, Bella. You'll get answers." Gramps reassured me.

I headed towards the house, going over and over the questions I had for Gramps in my head. The thoughts consumed me as I showered quickly and got dressed. They were still buzzing around in my head as I headed downstairs for lunch.

My stomach grumbled as I saw the spread Gramps had laid out. Plenty of sandwiches, potato salad, coleslaw, chips, and cookies were ready for consumption. Gramps and I were the only ones, but there was enough to feed all four of us twice over. Normally I wouldn't have eaten so much, but I felt like I was starving. I ate three times as much as I normally would have before the empty feeling abated and I could turn my attention to Gramps. When I looked up from my plate, I realized we had eaten everything.

"So?" I asked. Not really knowing where to start.

"We're Demons, Bella." Gramps said.

"We're _evil_?" I asked, shocked.

"No, just creatures that can look like what Christian theologians thought the biggest monsters out there were. A lot of us are actually pacifists, wanting to remain neutral in any of the other supernatural's conflicts."

"Oh," I said with a sigh of relief.

"We're immortal, but are vulnerable until we grow to full maturity. That's when a lot of our traits come out." Gramps said.

"Traits? What do you mean?" I asked.

"Our type of demon has an affinity with fire. You saw how the fire came when I called it?" I nodded in response. "You also have that ability. I've been noticing you calling it while you're working in the workshop. Never anything big, otherwise I would have had to start you working alone. You have also exceeded my expectations with your ability to work with metal. Do you hear it whispering to you yet?"

"I think so." I answered. "I can tell what the metal would be best suited for as I'm working with it."

"Good, good." Gramps replied. "And after it's been made, does it still whisper to you?"

"Yes, I found that I could tell exactly where the arrows were going before I let them fly." I answered. "It also seemed like I could anticipate where David and Matthew were going to strike."

"I figured you might have been hearing the whispers, especially since you leaned towards making weapons so heavily." Gramps said. "You've progressed faster in sword fighting in six months than others have learned in years. Your skill in fighting has surpassed David's and he's been training for forty years before teaching for the last twenty."

I was shocked at this revelation. David looked to be in his thirties. No way could he be over sixty. "How old is he?"

"He'll be eighty five on his next birthday." Gramps said. "Kind of young for one of his kind."

"What do you mean, one of his kind?" I asked.

"He's classified as a Rage Demon. The horns and fangs? Stereotypical for his family. We're considered Fire Demons, we don't get the horns and fangs, just the claws, size, and affinity for fire."

"I've never had claws." I said.

"Yes, you did, you just didn't notice it." Gramps said.

"No, I'm pretty sure I would have noticed claws, Gramps." I protested. I was getting tired of my opinion not being taken seriously.

"They were wrapped around your pretty little sword, Bells." Gramps said with a twinkle in his eyes.

"I did not have claws." I said as I pounded on the table.

"They're out right now. Look." Gramps said as he pointed to my fist.

I looked down at my hands, and sure enough, black claws tipped each one of my fingers.

"They're your last line of defense." Gramps explained. "Can cut through anything, even a vampire's skin."

They quickly slid back into my nail bed as I watched.

"Anything else going to change about my body?" I asked.

"I don't know how big you'll grow when fighting, females are rare in Demons. Most females never grow larger. The last one was killed over three hundred years ago. Never met her, but there are many stories about her."

"You're more than three hundred years old?" I asked.

"Four hundred fifty five to be exact. Your father is one hundred ninety." Gramps answered.

"How come you appear to be older but when you changed in size you looked younger?" I asked.

"Because we can glamour ourselves to look older. Helps us blend in with the humans for longer periods of time. When I changed in size, that's what I normally look like. You will always look like this when you're in a rage state, or if you drop the glamour, see?" Gramps all of a sudden looked like he was in his thirties. He looked like nearly a twin to my dad.

"That is so weird." I said.

"Even weirder, since we can change how old we look, we can switch generations around and pose as the next generation. Your father is the person who posed as my father years ago. If you hadn't been born, I would have eventually come to Forks and posed as the son he never knew he had in a couple of years. I would have eventually taken over his post in Forks and become some sort of officer there. Although I thought about being in the Fire Department. That would be fun."

"What?" I asked.

"Living in Forks is a family posting. We keep an eye on the supernaturals in that area. It's a breeding ground for many different types of supernaturals. From the Cullens that always come back to the Quileutes who change into wolves, it's a hot bed of supernatural activity."

"You mean dad knew that I was dating a vampire?" I asked shocked.

"Your father takes the idea of remaining neutral to the extreme. He's also a little broken. If he wasn't such a stubborn son of a bitch, he might have actually paid more attention to what was going on and forbidden you from seeing that leech. I know I would have if I were him."

"What do you mean he's broken?"

"Demons have what we call beloveds. Similar to what your wolves call their imprints. Now, your father met his beloved and because of his belief in noninterference, he watched her marry another. It's worse than what happened to you when the leech left you."

"Edward was my beloved?" I asked, horrified of the answer.

"No." Gramps said as I breathed out, relieved. "That was vampire dazzling shit. He hooked you on his scent. It's a hunting mechanism in vampires, makes prey become more biddable to their will. And because you hadn't reached your full maturity yet, you were unable to break the influence. If you had met your beloved, you would never have known because you were in withdrawal. I'm glad your father sent you when he did. You were getting too cold and you might not have reached your maturity if you hadn't been here. He almost left it too late."

"That stuff you gave me when I first got here, what was it?"

"Demonbrew. It can warm up a Demon that has gotten too cold." Gramps answered.

"Could it fix my dad?" I asked.

"Probably. But he's stubborn. Thinks he's fine without it."

"If it was anything like what I went through, which you said it's worse-"

"It is. Believe me." Gramps interrupted.

"Then he probably doesn't actually know how bad off he is. I know I realized after you gave me the Demonbrew how deep in a depression I actually was. How much I changed. How weak I was. Can I take it to him?"

"I think I'm okay with that." Gramps said. "I don't know if you'll be able to get him to take it, but you can try. I've tried many times over the years, but he argued against it. He started to shut me out so I stopped urging him to take it. Are you thinking of going back to Forks soon?"

"Maybe. I want to help Dad." The need to help him burned in my chest, pressing upon my heart. If he was worse than the catatonic zombie I had been with an ice heart, I knew that I needed to try and fix it.

"You've grown into your maturity. It's just a matter of a bit more training that you need to have before I can let you go." He thought about it for a bit before continuing, "Give me two weeks. You can take the hellhounds with you. They'll help a bit."

"Is there a forge around Dad's house?" I thought that fire might also help Dad.

"Yes, there's an old one out in the woods behind your house. Looks like an old abandoned shack. It might take a bit of work, but you should have it up and running in a day or two."

"I've seen it. Used to play in it when I was little. Why doesn't Dad use it if you say we have an affinity for fire?"

"Your dad gave up metalsmithing when he lost his beloved. He never really liked any of the _antiquated_ weapons that you and I use." His eyes twinkled as he said this. "He prefers his guns to swords and daggers."

"Why did my sword cut through Laurent?" I asked, remembering the shock that came with that action.

"The leech?" Gramps asked.

I nodded in answer.

"Let me guess, it had Demon blood on it from our fight earlier? And you stuck it in the fire at some point?" Gramps asked.

I nodded again.

"It's an old technique called blooding. One that hasn't been employed for hundreds of years. That specific type of metal is unique. The only other person who has been able to work it consistently was your great-great-grandmother. One of the few female demons I told you about?"

I nodded.

"She found out that if you covered that metal in Demon's blood, then burned it into the sword, it could cut through anything. She made a lot of weapons in her day, but they're rare to come across now. The value of your work just tripled in price. If you can keep creating them at the rate you're at, you will gain quite a reputation for yourself. I'd advise you to be very selective of who you sell your blooded weapons to."

"Alright, how about I let you handle the selling of weapons like I usually do?" I smiled at Gramps.

"Of course, I will always take care of that for you. You make me good money." His eyes twinkled at the idea of money.

"How much percentage do you take from selling what I create?" I asked curious.

"Five percent."

My jaw dropped, "Only five percent, Gramps you should be taking more."

"Five percent is more than enough." he said. "Have you looked at how much is in your bank account recently?"

"No, I haven't looked at that account since you opened it for me. I was just hoping it would be enough to go to college."

"Bells, there's enough money in there to go to college at least thirty times. Hell, you could probably _buy_ your own college. You really had no idea how much I can make from your designs?"

"How much?"

"Minimum, ten thousand. That set of jeweled daggers that you made last week went for one hundred fifty thousand."

"What? Why?"

"I replaced those stones you set in them with diamonds and rubies. It upped the value of them immensely. The fact that you've been gone from creating anything for a few years has also put more of a demand on your pieces. You know you also work at a much faster rate than most metalsmiths work?"

I shook my head.

"You work at the rate of three metalsmiths, with no scrap metal to be wasted. The majority of weapons you've been creating lately has been from my junk metal pile. Most of which has been considered unusable by anyone else. You've got a gift, Bells, and people will pay through the nose to get a piece of it."

"Wow. Guess I don't have to get a job when I go back home."

"Nope, just keep making me pretties, and you'll be fine." Gramps said with a wink.

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**Is it just me or did every Twi-hard fan think, "Yay! Charlie's team won the Superbowl!" when the Seahawks won yesterday?**


	8. Chapter 8: Return

**Hellhounds and Demons**

Chapter 8

Return

The next two weeks went by both incredibly slow and incredibly fast. Incredibly slow, because I was eager to get back to Dad and try and fix him. Incredibly fast because I was dreading seeing the pack. I didn't want to see Jacob and how incredibly happy he would be without me. Anxiety pooled in my stomach when I thought about seeing him again.

I mourned the loss of my mother. Two days after Laurent's attack, authorities got in touch with Gramps. They informed him of what had happened, since Renee had listed him as her next of kin. Both of her parents were dead. Gramps arranged for her to be cremated and then flown out to the house. The two of us had a small memorial in the orchard for her. I had asked Gramps if we should have asked Dad to come out, but he said that it was unlikely to do any good. Dad hadn't been answering Gramps' phone calls lately. The last month they had been going straight to voicemail. I figured the information would make him worse off, knowing that his Beloved was dead.

As the weeks passed, I would do as Gramps said at the memorial, remember the good times, learn from the tough times, and forget about the bad times. I loved my scatterbrained mother. I remember the fun and crazy adventures we would go on. I thought about all the lessons learned from her. And I forgot about her inability to actually be a mother. I was thankful for her. I thought that I should strive to be a little more like her. To be a little more outgoing. To try something new. To push past the shell that I had created to keep myself from being hurt. To not worry about tomorrow, because we're living in today.

During those weeks, Gramps taught me about controlling fire and my rage. I didn't have to call up the emotions that had triggered it the first time. It came as easy as breathing. We figured out that I, like most of the other females of my kind, didn't grow when in a rage state. Luckily I wouldn't have to worry about busting out of my clothes like the Hulk. Gramps, David, and Matthew all had special made clothes that would shift with them in their rage state.

Gramps also helped me pack. He had decided that since I would be needing a complete set of tools, as well as a good supply of metal to take with me, I needed to drive home rather than take the bus. I wouldn't have been able to take the bus anyways since I would have the hellhounds with me. It was going to be a fourteen hour trip and Gramps bought me a new truck. My new truck was a four door Ford F-150 with all the luxury items included. It wasn't brand new, being a couple years old, but it was new to me and I loved it.

It didn't take long to get everything packed up into the truck, including the anvil from my favorite workstation. I didn't think it was necessary, but Gramps insisted on it. He was contemplating getting a trailer for me for some of the metal that he had ordered, but I told him to have it rerouted to Forks and it would get there before I arrived.

I continued sparring with David and Matthew, but those seemed less like lessons and more like matches. Most of the time I could best them, and we incorporated things like my affinity for flame as well as their Rage abilities. Both of their horns and fangs were toxic so I learned quickly to avoid them.

By the end of the second week, we had a quiet dinner for Gramps, Matthew, and David to say goodbye. I was surprised when they gave me a couple of parting gifts.

"You didn't have to." I said.

"Yes, we did." David said. "And lose that inability to take what people give you graciously. Appreciate that what we give you means something to us. That it reflects how much we care about you. If you don't appreciate when we do something nice for you, you don't appreciate us caring for you. Which means you don't appreciate yourself. Besides, just think of it as an early birthday present. You're going to be twenty-two right?"

I nodded as I thought about the logic he presented and it kind of hit home. I don't like being the center of attention, but accepting someone's gifts was something I could do graciously instead of throwing it back in their face. "Alright, what did you get me?" I asked as I felt my face heat.

"Here's my present." David said as he handed over a long rectangular box. I carefully unwrapped the present. Inside was a bunch of black leather straps that looked like a goth's dream. My confusion was evident when David said, "It's a harness for your sword. Here, let me show you."

He pulled out the straps and I saw the scabbard that my sword would rest in. the straps fit over my shoulders like a gun holster, but the sword would rest along my spine. There was a clasp that fit below my breasts to keep the thing steady. The pommel would rest between my shoulderblades and top out just below my neck.

"It's designed to be able to be worn underneath your clothes. Put the sword in, leave your hair down, and I doubt anyone would notice it." I smiled at the thought of being able to have the sword on at all times.

"Here's mine," Matthew said as he handed me a square box. I opened it quickly, revealing more leather holsters, only these ones were for throwing daggers. They were intended to go on my wrists and ankles. There were patterns etched into the leather that matched the pattern on the scabbard.

"These are beautiful. And they match! Where did you find them?" I asked, hoping to find more.

"We made them. We're good with leather." David said cheekily.

"Well, they're perfect! Thank you!" I said with a big smile on my face.

"This is from me." Gramps said as he slid a large box in front of me. I opened it to reveal even more leather. As I pulled a large piece out, I realized it was a vest and a pair of pants. "It's based on the design of the battle leathers your great-great-grandmother used to wear. They're impervious to fire, and not much can cut through them. I commissioned them from David and Matthew when you finished with your sword. There's a few sets in there. Knew they would come in handy while working on metal."

I jumped out of my seat and hugged Gramps, then moved on to David and Matthew and hugged them as well. "I love them all, thank you!

We finished our meal and I packed up the last of my things before turning in early. I was heading out before dawn, wanting to make the drive in one day, instead of having to stop somewhere.

I awoke ready to get on the road and quickly strapped on the new leather holsters beneath a long sleeve waffle knit shirt and jeans, wanting to break them in. The metal in the weapons affixed in their hostlers, hummed gently at being near to my skin. I went downstairs for a final breakfast with Gramps.

"I'm going to miss you around here, Firebug." He said.

"I'll be back. Can't leave you alone for too long." I replied.

"Good, won't know what to do without someone to start my fires for me." Gramps grimaced.

I chuckled as I answered him. "You'll do it yourself."

"True." He smiled at me as he cleared my dishes. "Call me when you get to Forks. Let me know how it goes with your father."

"Will do." I whistled for the hellhounds as I headed out to the truck.

We got on the road and the boys slept for most of the way. I was relieved, since I was sure Demon would be scratching at the windows every five seconds. At ten o'clock, I made a phone call that I had been sure I would never make again.

"Hells Bells!" I heard Embry say and chuckled at the nickname. _He had no clue._ "You don't call, you don't write? What am I to do with you?"

"Uh, love me forever?" I said with a grin on my face.

"That I do, Bells, that I do. I miss you, too. So how's Montana?" Embry asked.

"I've missed you, too, Embry. Montana's been good, but I'll soon be leaving it." I answered.

"What do you mean, are you coming back?" he asked excitedly. I heard a smack and what sounded like the phone dropping to the ground and some tussling in the background.

"Em... Uh, Embry? You still there?"

"_Let me have it!_" I heard Em's voice faintly through the phone.

"Embry, do I need to call you back?" I asked.

"_No, Bells, hang on a second. Let go you jackass!_" I heard faintly.

There were a few more sounds of fighting and a loud grunt as I heard, "So, Bella, love of my life, you finally came to your senses and realized you couldn't live without me?"

"Yes, Quil," I said sarcasm dripping from every word. "I've decided to come back and devote myself to you as your personal slave."

"Damn, Embry, you hear that? Bella's going to take care of me for the rest of my life! Maybe we'll finally have those ten kids she's been dying to give me." Quil said.

"_Yes, you jackass, now get off me_!" Embry said faintly in the background.

"Alright now, Bella, for my first meal I would like three large steaks, rare, mashed potatoes, and that salad that you make with the red thingies and the-"

"Quil," I interrupted before he got too distracted by food, "it'll be a cold night in hell before I actually devote myself to you or bear your children."

"_Oh, burn_!" Embry said.

"Bella, I'm hurt that you've taken my love and potential mangy pack of children, and thrown it all away. I think I'm going to go cry." he fake sniffed a couple of times.

"Embry, make sure to give him a hanky for me." I chuckled at the thought of big Quil crying like a girl. My heart warmed at the conversation's turn of events. Nothing better than Quil and Embry's crazy antics to make a girl smile.

I heard a grunt and a muttered "_damn"_ just before Embry came back on the line, "You still there, Bells?"

"Yup, I'm here." I replied with a grin.

"When you going to be back?" Embry asked.

"I should be pulling into town about 8 o'clock tonight. Why you got something planned?"

"No," Embry answered, "but we've got patrol this evening. We can swing by tomorrow."

"Good, I was actually calling to ask you and Quil for some help. I've got a job for you. You guys are still working in construction with Sam right?"

"Yeah, what you need?" Embry said and I could hear the smile in his voice.

"Unpacking of bulky and numerous objects, some cleanup, and some possible structural repair. You guys up for it?"

"_Are you paying in cookies? 'Cause I'm in!_" I heard Quil faintly through the phone.

"I can actually do better than cookies, I can pay in cash." I said chuckling.

"Nah, all we need are the cookies." Embry countered.

"And I'm not taking no for an answer." I answered firmly. "It's going to be hard work, and it's the only way I know to stop Quil from whining."

"_I heard that!_" Quil said.

"Alright, alright, geez, you two." Embry said. "Do I have to separate you already? What time should we be there?"

"As early as you want," I answered, "but don't lose any sleep on my account."

"We're patrolling till midnight, so how bout we come over around nine?" Embry suggested.

"Sounds good! I'll see you then!" I confirmed.

"Bye Bells, don't be a stranger!" Embry said.

"_Bye, Bella, you know you want to bear my spawn!_" Quil yelled in the background.

"Bye, you goons!" I chuckled as I hung up the phone.

The rest of the drive was pretty uneventful. I made a couple of stops for the boys to get out and stretch their legs. Demon was giving me puppy eyes almost every hour, trying to look pitiful nudging my hand. I gave in to stop more often than originally planned because of his utterly pathetic looks. King was better about being in the car for long periods of time, just staring out the front window at the passing scenery, while Brimstone slept most of the way in the back seat.

We rolled into Port Angeles about six thirty, where I made a stop at the Albertson's for some of Dad's favorite beer before going into the Westside Pizza to pick up some of Dad's and my favorite pizza, Death by Pizza. This pizza had always been a special treat when we went up to Port Angeles. I knew the conversation Dad and I were going to have would be difficult, and I wasn't ashamed to butter him up before hand. I didn't worry about the pizza getting cold or the beer getting warm, Gramps taught me a trick to keeping things at their ideal temperature for long periods of time.

We walked down to the ferry dock and watched one of the ferries come in and leave again before heading back to Westside Pizza to pick up my order. The hellhounds were running around like, well, hellhounds, sniffing everything and making a general nuisance of themselves.

The sun was still shining and it was a beautiful day. The smell of the sea was calming, and I realized how much I had missed it from when I used to spend so much time on La Push beach. I hissed as the thought of missing La Push turned to missing my Jacob. Missing our easy conversations, the age game we used to play, even just sitting with Jacob as he worked on the Rabbit in his garage.

Demon's growl and a pull on the back of my jeans snapped me out of my thoughts as I realized I had just passed Westside Pizza's entrance. I looked over my shoulder to see King with my pants in his teeth, and he immediately let go and nuzzled under my hand, nipping it playfully. _Sad_, I heard whispered in my mind as he stared in my eyes.

_Sometimes_, I thought back, _but not nearly as often as before_.

_Good,_ he thought and sniffed at the same time.

_Food, food, food,_ I heard Brimstone chant with his tongue lolling out his mouth. I chuckled as I opened the door and picked up my order.

We quickly got back in the truck and got on the road. I was making good time and we would get home a little before I had predicted. I was close to the house when I called Gramps.

"Bells, you almost home?" he asked shortly after picking up the phone.

"Yup. I'm about five minutes out." I answered.

"Good, good. Were the boys good for you?" he asked.

"As good as they can be. Demon didn't pull any pranks, and Brimstone slept most of the way. King was quiet. How was the workshop today? Miss me yet?" I couldn't help but ask.

"Of course, who else am I going to get to do menial tasks for me?" he chuckled.

I laughed at that, "You could always hire an assistant."

"Yeah, but then I'd have to _pay_ them!" Gramps complained.

"You'll get me back eventually." I assured him.

"You never know how your cards will play out till your hand's been dealt." he said cryptically. I couldn't stop myself from rolling my eyes.

I turned down my street, and said, "Gramps, I'm pulling in soon. I'll talk to you later."

"Alright, you talking to him tonight?" Gramps asked.

"Yeah, figured I'd get it over with." I said as I pulled up behind the cruiser in the driveway, blocking it in. _Good, he can't escape._

"Alright, call me after, and don't hesitate to call if you need to." He paused for a moment before continuing, "Love you. Be safe. Good luck."

"I love you, too." I said before hanging up. A deep breath in and I felt myself relax from some of the tension that had built from the drive. I only had to try and save my father.


	9. Chapter 9: Awakening

**Hellhounds and Demons**

Chapter 9

Awakening

My hellhounds scampered off before I made my way to the front door. The extra key to the house was in the same spot it had been in for years. With the beer balanced on top of the pizza, I concentrated on unlocking and opening the door. I could hear the game on the tv in the background as I made my way towards the kitchen.

"Bells, that you?" Dad's voice echoed towards me as his head popped around the corner.

"Yeah, Dad, hungry?" I asked holding the beer aloft.

"I could eat." he said. I looked at him closely. The lines of weariness on his face were more prominent than I had remembered. His overall demeanor was one of defeat. I was ashamed that I had never noticed that before.

"Sit down, I'll bring you out some."

"Sure, Bells." Dad said.

Gramps had said Dad refused Demonbrew before. On the way home, I had a lot of time to think about how to talk to Dad. After contemplating all my options, I realized that I wasn't going to give him an opportunity to refuse.

I grabbed plates and cups, dished up the still steaming pizza, poured two beers, and got ready to take it out to him. Fishing out the Demonbrew from my bag, I dumped quite a bit into his beer. I crossed my fingers hoping that it wouldn't change color, and I was in luck. It didn't look any different, but it sure did smell different. Hopefully he would be distracted enough by the game and not pay attention.

"Thanks, Bells." Dad said.

"No prob." I tried not to stare at him as he set down the glass of beer and dug into his pizza. My anxiety built as the beer just sat there, sweat building up on the cup and dripping down onto the coaster. Did he suspect what I had done?

Another drip made a trail down the side of the glass. I couldn't help but stare as it soaked into the cork coaster.

Another trail, another drip.

When I had just about given up on the whole idea, Dad grabbed the beer and chugged it down. He was about halfway through, when he set it down with a thunk and grabbed at his chest. Dad gasped once and then fell back in his seat.

_Holy Shit_! Did I just kill him? I quickly ran back to the kitchen and pawed through my bag.

Phone.

Phone.

_Phone_.

Where was the damn phone?

_Shit, there it is._ I punched Gramps number on my contact list and ran back to Dad while listening to it ring.

"Bells, that was quick." Gramps answered the phone.

"I think I killed him!" I all but screamed into the phone. Panic continued to course through my veins.

"Calm down. Is he breathing?" He asked coolheadedly.

I looked at him and saw his chest rising and falling steadily. "Yes, he's breathing."

"Check his pulse?" He suggested quietly.

I quickly felt for it, "Yes, he has one."

"Compare it to your own real quick. Faster or slower?"

I left one hand on his neck and moved my other to my own. Our pulses were nearly in sync with each other. After a few seconds, they fell into rhythm together.

"Same as mine." Curiosity flooded me as the panic started to dim.

"Good, same pace or in sync?" Gramps asked.

"In sync. Is this normal?" I asked, confusion creeping in.

"Yes, healthy demon's hearts will beat in time with their children's, parent's, or beloved's when in close proximity. We call it synchronicity. Brings comfort to each other when we feel it."

"Oh, that is weird, don't you have to worry about heart disease? Couldn't you catch a heart attack if Dad or I had one while around you?" I asked, dropping my hand from my neck and my dad's.

Gramps' laugh rang out, "Bells, we're immortal, we don't get heart disease."

"Oh, yeah." My face heated as I remembered that small fact.

"You make my old heart young again." Gramps chuckled again. "I forget sometimes that you're not even a quarter century old."

"Sorry." I said as I moved to look out the windows.

"No need to apologize, sweetheart. How did you talk him into taking it so fast? I was sure it would take you at least two hours if you convinced him at all."

"Didn't. Dumped the demonbrew in his beer." I said quietly.

Gramps' laughter peeled across the phone lines again.

"So that's what you did to me. Thought I was having a heart attack." Dad's voice broke through our conversation and Gramps' laughter ended.

I turned to face my dad. His face was unreadable as his hand reached out towards me. "Phone, Bells."

I handed it over quickly.

"Well, she got me to do what you never could. I'll call you in a bit. Bells and I are going to have a discussion. Bye, Dad." he said into the phone before hanging it up.

My anxiety built as the silence stretched between. I couldn't stop my toes from tapping inside my shoes, anxious to move but frozen at the same time.

The stalemate was broken when he swept me into his arms and held onto me tightly. I felt a little awkward as Dad and I had never really had the most affectionate of relationships before. After a moment, I sank into his warmth and wrapped my arms around him, squeezing him just as tightly as he was squeezing me. I was so thankful for him, happy he was alive after my previous panic. His quiet voice startled me out of my moment of thought, "What the hell were you thinking?"

"I didn't think you would take it if I asked." I mumbled.

"No, not that, dating a goddamned _leech_!" Dad shook me a little towards the end.

"Uh, Dad, that was like, over three years ago." I said, confusion evident in my tone as I pulled back to look at him.

"It was? I thought I told you to stay away from the lee-" he paused for a moment as if remembering something. "Huh, I guess I didn't did I. I thought I talked to you about it. Did I tell you about the Quileute Legends?"

I shook my head no.

"Did I tell you about what we are?" Dad started to look a little panicked.

I shook my head no again.

"Did I teach you anything?" tears filled his eyes as he asked the question more of himself than of me.

"To keep pepper spray on me at all times." I tried to encourage him a bit.

"Oh, baby Bells, I am so sorry!" He pulled me back tightly into his arms. Fat, wet drops landed on my head. "And you were cold. I could have killed you!"

I felt the tears roll down my own checks as I tried to reassure him, "Dad, it's okay. I'm okay. I'm alive, you're alive. We're good."

"But you're just a baby, Bells." he loosened his grip to wipe the tears from my face. "You shouldn't have had to go through all that. Not alone anyways."

"Gramps said you were broken?" I suggested, trying to get him beyond his guilt.

"That's still no excuse. I should have been there. I should have taught you everything you needed to know. It was my responsibility as a father. I should have-"

"Dad," I slapped both palms on his chest lightly to get his attention, "I'm here. I'm alive, and you have a lot of time to make up for anything you missed."

"I-" he started again.

"Dad, don't make me hurt you. 'Cause I can do that now." I said smiling at him.

"Alright, I get it." he said gruffly. _Ah, there's the dad I know and love_. "But two days from now is my day off, and I'm going to make sure that you know more about everything here than you ever thought possible. Gramps has been training you?"

"Yeah, sword lessons everyday for the past six months or so. Metalsmithing for the last ten." I said. Dad finally let me go enough to sit down on the couch. He grabbed his beer and slid another slice of pizza from the box onto his plate. He shocked me by sitting down next to me completely ignoring the game that was still playing on the tv.

"Swords, eh?" His eyebrow raised with his question.

"Yup," I answered grabbing my own slice of pizza and eating it, "Gramps got David to come out when I made a sword that he thought I wanted to keep."

"David? David Casey?" At my nod, he continued, "I trained David about thirty years ago."

"Really?" I asked. "Gramps said you don't like swords. That you prefer your guns."

"I prefer my guns, but am quite proficient at swords. Guess you'll see starting Saturday won't you?"

"You're going to train me?" I couldn't keep the excitement out of my voice.

"Yup. Although it'll be more like mock battles rather than lessons." He grinned at me.

I smiled so big it hurt my cheeks. "I can't wait, Dad."

"So let me see it." Dad said taking a sip of his Demonbrew laced beer. Must not have packed as much of a punch as the first time.

"It?" I asked.

"Your sword. Knowing David, he made it possible for you to keep it on you at all times." The statement came out more as a question towards the end.

I nodded and reached back and drew my sword from it's resting place. The gentle hum from the sword soothed me as I pulled it out, whispering of its readiness. I handed it to my dad, hilt first.

"Good, proper sword etiquette." he commented.

"Gramps taught me that when I was five." I shot Dad a dirty look.

"I don't know what you've been taught, so a lot of this will be catch up. Be a little patient with me." He said grumpily as he looked over the sword. The light caught the silvery embellishments along the center of the blade. He smiled wryly, "You know you wrote your name on it?"

I couldn't stop the chuckle that escaped my smile. "Gramps noticed that, too, when I showed it to him the first time. I was working on it from the other direction while I was adding it, so no, not consciously."

"Well," Dad smiled as he tested the weight and balance of my sword. "that's a good way to find out what weapon you're going to learn best from. You been making your Gramps _pretties_?"

"Yeah, apparently been making quite a bit of money at it, too. So I can pay you rent if you need it." I said a little hesitant. Money had a been a bit of a sore spot for me over the years. It had been a constant battle with my mother just to keep the bills paid.

"Nope, not going to accept it." he said as he handed my sword back to me. "I did a shit-tastic job of looking after you for your first almost twenty-two years. I'll do a better job of looking after you now. Besides, you're not the only one who's made a lot of money making pretties for your Gramps. House is paid for."

"If we're rich, why are we living in a small house?"

"You blend in better." He paused before asking, "Did having top of the line cars and a giant house in the middle of nowhere help the Cullens mix well with others?

I thought about it. "No, they stood out like a sore thumb."

"Just because we have a smaller house than them, doesn't mean we have a smaller bank account." Dad grinned as he said this.

"Really?" I asked completely shocked.

"Yeah honey, metalsmithing and training in sword fighting has been in the family for generations. It will keep us in business for years yet. We just keep adding to the wealth."

"Can we please get a second bathroom then?" I pleaded with hands together in supplication.

Dad chuckled before answering, "Yeah, I guess we kind of need one don't we? I'll call around to get someone out here for an estimate while I'm at work tomorrow. You going to make more of those pretties? Your craftsmanship is superb."

I felt the heat in my face and knew it was red as a tomato. David, Matthew, and Gramps had gotten me to be more gracious about accepting compliments, especially about my work, but it was hard to keep the blush from staining my cheeks. "Thanks, Dad. And yes, Gramps said there's a workshop out back?"

"Yeah, it hasn't been in use for over twenty-five years, so it'll need some work. Do you want to work on it on Saturday?"

"That would be great. I have some friends coming over tomorrow, and we're going to start on it then. They work on Sam Uley's construction crew, who you should call about the remodel. Whatever we don't get done, we can hopefully finish up on Saturday." I was excited about sharing one of my passions with my dad.

"Alright, Bells." Dad glanced at his watch. "It's getting late. I need to call your Gramps before I go to bed, and that's probably going to be a long conversation." Dad pulled me in for a final hug.

"Night, Dad. Sorry for drugging you." I said into his chest. Warmth flowed through me as I felt our synced heartbeats.

"Bells, I am entirely grateful that you did what you did. I was cold, broken. We'll talk more about that on Saturday." He kissed me on the forehead and shooed me off to bed. "Alright, sweet dreams."

I headed up stairs, walked into my room and was too tired to be shocked that all three of my hellhounds were curled up on my bed. Getting ready for bed took hardly any time at all, and I shoved Brimstone out of the middle of the bed and fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.


	10. Chapter 10: Rebuilding

**Hellhounds and Demons**

Chapter 10

Rebuilding

I woke with the sun, still on Gramps' schedule and figured I would make some cookies for Embry and Quil to take home with them. Or scarf them all down as soon as they saw them. I headed downstairs to be shocked with the presence of my dad cooking breakfast. And cooking what looked like a _good_ breakfast.

"Ah, you're up. I was hoping I would get to see you before I left for work. I figured you'd still be on Montana time." He said as he pulled a large stack of pancakes out of the oven. He had on a Kiss the Cook apron on over his police uniform.

"You can cook?" I asked completely surprised. There was no resistance from me when he gave me a one armed hug while pulling the last of the bacon off the griddle.

"Yes, I can cook. Just didn't have the heart to before. Buttermilk pancakes, scrambled eggs, and bacon." He served up the eggs and bacon on two plates and handed one to me before setting the other in front of his seat and sitting down. "Grab the juice and dig in."

It was one of the best meals I'd had in a long time. If this was evidence of how well he could cook when he really wanted too, I would gladly share cooking duties! We ate quickly, chatting about our plans for the day. It was the longest conversation I'd ever had with my Dad, with the exception of last night. It felt kind of nice. He helped me wash up the dishes, but there weren't that many since he cleaned as he went.

I headed for the stairs to take a shower and get dressed. I paused on the bottom step when Dad called out, "Bells, I'm heading down to La Push to visit Billy and Harry tonight. You going to be okay on your own?"

My face scrunched up in confusion. "Dad, Harry died over three years ago."

A strange emotion flitted over his face before it fell in discouraging lines. "He did? I guess I didn't remember. I'm sorry, Bella, but I'm going to have some gaps in my memories for a bit. Should clear up in a week or so."

"It's alright, as long as you start remembering. I'll be fine tonight, probably have the guys stay for dinner." I answered.

"Alright, Bells, be safe today." There was a smile on his face as he walked out the door, locking it behind him.

I showered quickly and got dressed. The new leather clothes were going to be put to the test of how well they were going to hold up under hard work. I slipped a forest green long sleeve shirt on underneath the vest, so the wrist holsters wouldn't show.

Less than five minutes had passed and the underwire in my bra was starting to dig into my rib cage. I pulled off the vest and looked closely at it. There were leather ties up the sides that looked like the back of a corset. The grooves from the patterns burned into the leather tickled the pads of my fingers as I felt along the surface, trying to figure out what exactly it was that was making me uncomfortable. I found a few slits along the back and front, which I quickly realized were holsters for four daggers. I felt along the fronts and the sides and heard the whisper of metal. Following the direction of the metal, I realized what exactly it was doing in the vest. _Stays_! This was meant to be worn without a bra.

I did a mental facepalm. Gramps said that it was based off of a design worn by my great-great-grandmother. They didn't have bras back in her day. I quickly stripped, put the shirt back on, clasped the vest, and tightened the strings on the sides till it felt snug but not so tight I couldn't breathe. I headed towards the mirror, anxious to see how it fit.

_Holy Shit_! I don't think I have ever looked so good. The outfit showed off every single curve I had, from my ass to my tits. For the first time in my life I felt sexy, empowered.

I groaned. If Quil had been a flirt before, it was only going to be worse now. Oh well, I wouldn't trade these leathers in for anything.

I strapped the sword holster on over the top of my vest. The under bust clasps blended in seamlessly with the clasps holding the vest together. I did a quick spin and checked it out in the mirror. With my hair down, the pommel was covered. Since the pattern on the scabbard and vest matched, it looked like a design in the vest. As if it was just extra layers along the spine. I did a little happy dance, knowing that I could walk around almost anywhere with these on.

I slammed my fist down on the bed, startling the hellhounds out of their sleep. "Let's roll."

We headed downstairs and out to the truck, grabbing my bag and a jacket along the way. The hellhounds jumped up into the cab before I started the engine and pulled out. The drive was quick, and the sun seemed to be shining for once.

_Be good or else you're stuck in the truck_, I thought to all three of the hellhounds before I turned off the engine. Demon nodded seriously at me, knowing that I was really only talking to him. Thriftway was pretty empty for being so early in the day. I grabbed the fixings for cookies, lunch and dinner. The shiny black piece of plastic that Gramps had given to me raised the eyebrows of the sleepy cashier, but I didn't let that bother me.

Demon couldn't help but trip Brimstone on the way back to the truck, making Brimstone tackle Demon right back. I growled lowly at them, watching as they immediately split up. The boys jumped in the cab as I loaded the groceries and we were quickly on our way back home.

An hour later, I had just pulled the last of the cookies off the tray, when I heard a knock that could only be one thing. I couldn't stop myself from grinning as I headed towards the door, the hellhounds beating me to it by seconds. After opening the door, the dogs scrambled out, and I covered my mouth to keep the chuckles in at the sight that greeted me.

Both Quil and Embry were on their backs, all three of the hounds licking their faces as if they were made of bacon. Brimstone was sitting on Embry's chest, while Demon and King had their front paws on Quil's. "Uh, Hells Bells, you want to help us out?" Embry asked.

I stuck my fingers in my mouth and whistled loudly at the boys. Demon and King let Quil up, but Brimstone continued to stare at Embry.

"Could you be any louder, Bella? We have sensitive hearing, you know." Quil griped as he got up and dusted off his ass.

"I could have whistled louder." I answered back snarkily. "Brimstone, get off of Embry." Brimstone quickly did as I asked, and Embry pulled himself up off the ground. I was lifted in the air and swung around by Quil, quickly getting dizzy.

"Bella, love of my life, do I smell cookies?" Quil asked as he put me down and headed towards the kitchen. Always thinking with his stomach, that one.

I felt the warm embrace from Embry before looking up into his smiling face. "Hi, Embry."

"Hells Bells, I'm so glad you're back!" he said.

"You have no idea how glad I am to _be_ back. Come on, let's get inside before Quil eats all the cookies."

We walked to the kitchen arm in arm.

"Whe di u ge tha dos?" Quil said through a mouthful of cookies.

"What?" I asked. I knew what he was asking but liked to give him crap about talking with his mouthful. Long ago Embry, Jake and I had become proficient at understanding his mumblings, since he refused to take a moment to swallow before speaking.

"Where did you get the dogs?" he said clearly after a moment.

"At my Gramps. This is King, Demon, and Brimstone." I pointed to each of my boys as I said their names. "Watch out for Demon, he likes to play pranks, and if you give Brimstone table scraps, you'll wish you were dead before I'm through with you."

Quil quirked an eyebrow, "There's no need to get so touchy, Bella, I'm sure he'll be fine."

"He'll be fine, but your nose won't. He farts the most noxious fumes when he eats dairy. You'd think you were in a tar pit." I was not exaggerating. It took Gramps and I nearly a week to figure out what was setting him off.

Quil raised his arm and stuck up his first two fingers, "I swear I won't give him dairy. I promise, Bella."

Embry snagged a couple of cookies and leaned against the counter. "You were never a boy scout, Quil." he said as he rolled his eyes. "So what's this job you have for us, Bells?"

"There's an old workshop behind the house. I need to get it fixed up for use asap. You guys ready to go? I promise the cookies will still be here when we get back."

They each grabbed a couple more in each hand while we headed out the back door, with the hellhounds scrambling after us. King, Demon, and Brimstone took off into the underbrush, as I headed towards my truck. I had parked it near an overgrown trail that I thought the truck just might make it through. Good thing the truck came with off-roading capabilities.

As I disarmed the truck, Embry exclaimed, "Woah, Bells, where'd you get the new ride?"

"Shotgun!" Quil said brushing past me and hopping into the front seat.

"Gramps, got it for me." I explained as the truck roared to life. "He didn't want me taking the bus home. Plus, I was hauling a whole bunch of crap back as well as the hounds."

"Good deal. This is nice. Leather seats, I like." Embry said as he shut the door.

"How far back in the woods is this place?" Quil asked as I edged down the trail.

"Not sure, I haven't been back there in a while. I think Jake and I played in there when I was six? Dad wouldn't have let us get too far into the woods, so it should be somewhere close." I guessed.

The drive took longer because I was trying to drive carefully over the ruts, but we were there within five minutes. It was easy walking distance from the house. The workshop was almost identical to Gramps' workshop back in Montana. But it was only about half the size. I pulled up as close to the doors as I could. There was plenty of room to maneuver the truck since the workshop was built in a small clearing.

"Let's see what we've got inside, and then we'll start unloading the truck."

"Sure, sure." that one phrase took me back to warm sodas, the burnt engine oil, and warmth from an unexpected source.

"You comin', Bells?" Embry asked as he opened my door. I pulled myself together and got out quickly.

"Where's the door?" Quil asked.

"Right here." I said, pulling the hidden latch and sliding open one of the large doors. If they were both open, it was wide enough to drive the truck inside the workshop.

The dust and cobwebs were thick on the counters and walls. "Embry, can you check the racks and counters for wood rot? Quil, can you check the roof? We're going to have to replace anything that's not in good repair. Quil, there's a ladder in the attached shed. I'm going to check out the forge, anvils, and coal supply."

They both nodded their head as they went about the tasks I assigned them. There were two anvils that were in good shape with more than enough space to put in the anvil Gramps insisted I take. It was going to be placed along the north wall, near some storage units.

I wouldn't need to order more coal for a while. There was a large bin elevated out behind the workshop that had a mobile chute that could be directed to the forge. The chute was in good working order and I was amazed at how well everything was preserved in spite of the fact that dad hadn't been working in here for twenty five years.

It was starting to warm up and I stripped off my jacket, while familiarizing myself with some of the controls on the forge. It was almost exactly like the forge at Gramps' but was a newer version than what he had. No manufacturing name on this one either. My suspicion was that Gramps or Dad had made both of them.

"Damn, Bella Baby." Quil said startling me slightly. "I think we're going to have to have at least twelve kids now."

I looked at him with one eyebrow raised in scepticism, "Why?"

"Because if we're gonna have the three daughters that I want, they're going to need at least three brothers each to beat the other boys off with a stick. You are smoking, babe!"

I laughed. Nothing like Quil to make you feel good about yourself. I looked over at Embry and he was blushing like crazy.

"Seriously Em, nothing to say?" I asked.

"You look real good Bells. Better than when you left."

"I guess pounding metal will give you muscles you didn't have before." _And playing with swords._ I silently added on.

"And eating." Embry muttered. I don't think I was supposed to hear that.

"I guess anything's better than Zombie Bella?" I asked, not expecting a response. "What's the verdict on the repairs, guys?"

"The roofs pretty solid, just missing a couple of shingles here and there. A small patch has wood rot. Shouldn't take more than an hour." Quil answered.

"I need to replace some of the boards in the storage units on the north wall." Embry chimed in.

"You guys want to go get the replacements and I'll finish cleaning up in here? There's cash in the glove compartment. Whatever's left is yours as payment." I said pulling out the keys to the truck and shaking them at the guys.

"Of course!" Quil said reaching for the keys.

I quickly pulled them back from him and tossed them to Embry who caught them deftly. "No offence, but I wouldn't trust you to not crash my truck.

"Aw, Bella, you suck." Quil said.

"Maybe some other time." I said with a wink.

"I'm holding you to it, Swan!" he said laughing.

Embry hugged me before leaving, and Quil snuck in a pinch to my ass while hugging me. He jumped away quickly, avoiding the punch I tried to land on him. They ran out the door before I could yell at Quill. The truck roared to a start and left.

That blessed silence was exactly what I wanted to hear. I pulled out my lucky lighter and flicked the flint to start it. The fire greeted me like a long lost friend, happy to be in my presence. I coaxed it larger and away from my lighter, directing it to burn the dust and cobwebs that was currently coating the workshop. An hours worth of work done in five minutes, now that's what I was talking about.

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**A/N: You guys are awesome! Thank you for all the reviews. Especially to guest reviews, which I can't reply to.**


	11. Chapter 11: Familiars

**Hellhounds and Demons**

Chapter 11

Familiars

Walking through the forest, I tried to find the easiest route from the workshop to the house. I knew that I had about an hour to kill, since the closest place to get the needed supplies was on the other side of town. What would have normally been a catastrophe, trudging through the woods, was now a peaceful walk. I had grown out of my clumsiness stage as I had started on the swordwork. Nothing like learning to keep your balance when your life may depend on it.

Strolling out of the treeline, I was greeted with a sight I never expected. Up on top of the roof were two of the largest, meanest, blackest cats I had ever seen in my life, sunning themselves in the weak sunlight. And I'm not talking about domesticated cats. They were the full grown, lion and tiger sized cats. Both of them were staring down at my three hellhounds, reminding me of what happened with the hellhounds and Lucifer. I froze, and their gaze moved to me, not moving. The hellhounds traipsed towards me and King licked my hand in assurance.

I slowly pulled out my phone and dialed my dad.

"Yeah, Bells?" he answered. The two cats started moving, flowing down off the roof like a spill of black ink and sauntered towards me.

"There's a pair of cats - _giant cats_ - on the roof. Well they were on the roof." I tried not to let the panic seep into my tone. Cats can smell fear right?

"So Nico and Demus made it. I wondered when they would show up." my dad answered.

"Nico and Demus?" I asked quietly, trying to seem as nonthreatening as possible.

"Hellcats, Bells, they're a little larger than black leopards. Kinda like how you have hellhounds and your gramps has Lucifer. I have Nico and Demus. Get it, Nicodemus?" The larger of the two got up close and personal with me, reaching up his front paws and placing them on my shoulders. He was heavy, but it wasn't a strain to remain standing. I could feel his breath on my face as he snuffled, taking in my scent.

"Yeah, Dad." I whispered.

I heard a low rumbling _Cub_, in my head before I felt the rasp of his sandpaper tongue up the side of my face. He backed down off my shoulders before the other one circled me, rubbing up against me. I wiped my face and couldn't stop myself from saying, "Ewww."

I heard my dad's chuckle before he said, "That was probably Demus who just licked your face. He was always the more demonstrative of the two."

"Good to know." I said.

"Was that it, kid?" Dad asked.

"I guess?" I said as the two cats moved back up to the tree by the house to climb up onto the roof.

"Alright, then. I'll see you tomorrow. We'll talk more about them then." he said. We said our goodbyes and I entered the house. I started working on sandwiches for when the guys came back. They were done just as I heard the truck pull up.

I walked to the door and hollered for the guys. "I know it's a little early, but how bout a quick lunch before we get back to repairing?"

"We never say no to food." Embry said as they walked in.

Lunch was an uproarious affair. The guys were a little in shock at how much I could put away. Not as much as they could, but definitely a lot more than I used to.

We had been joking around and our conversation was easy. Just like old times. Moving out onto the back porch, we were enjoying the rare sun as it blanketed the area. I started edging into the topic that I had wanted to broach from the moment I called them. "How's the pack?"

"Doing good. Seth finally got his driver's license." Embry said.

"Holy crow, I forgot he only turned sixteen last year." Poor Seth, a child in the body of a man.

"Emily just found out she's pregnant last month. Sam has been wanting to quit phasing since he found out she was pregnant." Quil piped in.

"Kim's trying to convince Jared to follow in their footsteps, but he wants them to move out of her parent's house before they take that step." Embry said.

"Doesn't he have to do what she wants? She's his imprint." I asked. Imprinting was a confusing issue for me. I could never really get my head wrapped around it.

"Yeah, she may want it, but his wolf knows that's not what she needs right now. She's finishing up her associate degree in child development at the Forks satellite college." Embry explained.

"How 'bout Rachel and Paul? When I left, she would barely give him the time of day." I asked. It took a long time for Paul to warm up to me. But like all men, his heart was won through his stomach. Through snacks and meals left on his doorstep, his acceptance of me as someone who cared for him, no strings attached, was solid. After Jake's imprinting and then the subsequent rejection, Paul had been over almost as much as Embry and Quil.

Two months before I left, Rachel Black, Jacob's sister, had come home to visit, and he Imprinted on her. Rather than immediately being swept up by the romance of the Imprint, all she saw was his past reputation. Paul had begged and pleaded with her just to be his friend. It took him six weeks before she would even acknowledge his presence. She had moved back home, because she didn't want to cause him the pain of separation, but she had a hard time accepting him.

"Oh, yeah, she finally figured out that his womanizing ways would lead to great times in the sack." Quil said joyfully, pumping his hips and pretending to smack the invisible ass in front of him.

"But she still keeps a pretty tight leash on him. You know he'd never gotten his GED like a lot of us did when we dropped out?" Embry asked as I shook my head no. Most of the pack hadn't been able to balance patrolling and school, so had opted for getting their GED's. Quite a few of them had gotten jobs in Sam's construction company shortly after. "Well, she said that she couldn't accept someone who didn't care about their own education. He finished his GED in record time and has started taking classes in Port Angeles. Sam's construction company has been doing pretty well, and they've been talking about Paul moving into the accounting and management side, since someone needs to organize it better. No one knew how much of a whiz he was with numbers."

"I'm glad it's working out for them. I had no idea Paul was interested in that." I said.

"No one did, Bells." Embry said. "She saw it and encouraged him in it. He's become happier, more balanced since she took him in hand."

"How are Brady and Colin?" I asked.

"The twin terrors?" Quil asked. "They discovered girls about six months ago and have been trying to step into Paul's old reputation ever since. Leah smacks 'em around a bit every once in awhile to try and knock some sense into them."

"Should my ears be burning since you're all talking about me?" Leah stepped out of the tree line. I hopped up and made my way over to her, anxious for a hug.

Leah had been the one to help convince me to leave Forks after the Imprinting. She didn't want me to turn into the burning pit of despair and anger that she had become after Sam imprinted on Emily. A side effect of helping me out in my time of need, had been an ability to finally put to rest her feelings of betrayal and self-doubt. We had become closer because of that.

"Hey, Lele!" I exclaimed as we pulled each other in tight.

"Hey, Lala," Leah replied as I pulled away from her and dragged her up to the porch where Embry and Quil were still sitting. "Girl, do you have converse on with this bitchin' outfit? Cause seriously, you and I need to go shopping for something a little more deserving."

Leah had never been one to care about her clothes, but had an addiction to shoes. Flats, stillettos, wedges, boots, you name it she had it. Her collection of shoes rivalled Alice and Rosalie's put together. Alice and Rosalie at least rotated them out and donated their old ones frequently. Leah kept every shoe she bought that still fit.

"They're comfy." I protested. An attempt to keep the whine out of my voice was not successful.

"They're ugly." she challenged back. "We'll find you comfy, but still cute. I know you gripe a lot if they're not." Shoe shopping with her was not for the faint of heart. I was almost certain she could outshop the Cullens.

"How did you know I was here?" I asked.

"Heard it from these two yahoos last night when we switched for patrol. Came over when I was done. I heard you need help?"

"Yeah, you can help me start unpacking. Let's go." I herded them towards my truck, realizing that I had missed my opportunity to ask about what I really wanted to know. _My Jake_.

We made our way quickly towards the workshop, the boys unloaded the wood they had bought and started in on replacing the missing shingles and the rotten boards. Leah helped me unpack and start setting up all the stuff I had brought with me. It went quickly, but I was constantly downplaying the strength I actually had so as not to tip them off. The three of them wrestled the anvil Gramps made me bring, positioning it just so.

"Damn, Bells, how did you and your Gramps load this thing. It weighs a ton!" Quil complained. Little did he know it only took the two of us to move it into the truck. Gramps of course taking more of the weight.

"Gramps had a crane." I lied quickly. Embry had finished the cabinet, so we started loading some of the metals and finishing materials in there. There was another locked cabinet that worked a little like a safe, that I started unloading some of the more rare metals and expensive projects that I was either in the middle of or finished.

The three of them kept asking where to put things and I was constantly deciding where things should go. By the time we got to the cases that had been in the locked tool chest in the truck, they were in shock with how many weapons I had. I started putting the many blooded blades around the workshop, not wanting to have them inaccessible. My previous experience making me extremely cautious. I had filled the four holsters in the vest discreetly, trying to not let them see.

"Damn, Bella, how many weapons have you made?" Embry asked.

"In the last ten months, about forty big projects, maybe twenty little. A lot of these I made previously." I explained as I hung quite a few of my _pretties_ on the walls, more for decoration than actual use.

"What do you do with them all?" Leah asked.

"A few I give away, a few I keep, but most of them Gramps sells for me." I said.

"Does it make you good money?" Quil asked, unashamed.

"Actually it does, quite a bit." I said, my face burning.

"So, what, this is your job now?" Quil asked.

"Yeah, I think it is." I said realizing I already had a full-fledged career. College doesn't really seem to be something necessary when you're already working.

"Sign me up!" Leah said jokingly.

"Good, now I don't have to ask you about it." I said, an idea that I had been letting percolate in my head for a while became fully realized. All day long the metal had been whispering to me, Leah would be perfect for this. She had been at a loss for a job, only waitressing at a bar to cover the bills. Leah hated it, but it was a paying job.

"You're serious?" Leah asked, a bit of hope seeping into her eyes.

"This job isn't just about strength." I said, looking at Quil, who started to look sheepish. "It's about control, endurance, and patience. I can teach you how to pound metal, and your wolf strength will only be a bonus."

"You sure you want to spend the time training me?" A bit of the self-doubt that I thought she had gotten rid of tinged her tone. She was always so careful to hide it in anger, but she and I had gotten past that. We knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that honesty was the only thing that could help.

"Of all the pack members, you're the only one who I'd trust to do this. Besides, I'll get you to do all the menial stuff I don't want to do." I finished flippantly.

"Huh." she said as she leaned back into the counters. "I'll do it. As long as it makes me more than what I'm paid now."

"I guarantee you'll make at least double what you're earning now. We can work around your patrol schedule, and I will never freak out if you have to leave for pack business. I'll worry, but not freak." I smiled and was given a smile in return.

"Deal." she stuck her hand out and we shook on it.

"Not to break up the love fest, but can we eat dinner now?" Quil interrupted, the grumbling from his stomach fighting his words with volume. We all laughed.

"Yeah, we can do that." I said. We walked back to the house, and I started getting dinner ready. I had planned on food that was quick to put together, knowing I wouldn't be wanting to make too much of an effort after the long day. Steaks had been marinating since the morning and I put Quil and Embry on grill duty while Leah and I zapped the potatoes and threw together a salad.

We had sat down to dinner and most of the food was gone when I tried to find out the information I had been hedging for earlier at lunch. "So any new imprints?"

"No, none since Rachel and Paul." Embry said. "Which isn't surprising. We don't get a lot of new people on the rez, and everyone's already seen everyone else."

"Yeah, but when you go out to Forks or Port Angeles? What about all the people there?" I asked.

"The elders have a theory, we only imprint on Native Americans. That's what it's been so far."

"But I thought Mina was Greek or something?" I shivered as the chill of pain of Jake's Imprint forcing him to make me stay away coursed through my body. I pushed away the pain and remembered all that I was living for, the heat, the metal, the humming.

"Yeah, well that's a whole 'nother thing." Quil grumbled, anger vibrating from his tone.

"What?" I asked shocked.

"She died." Quil said.

"What?" I repeated. Pain pushing its way to the surface. _My Jake was gone_.

"She was killed by a vampire. It bit her, drained her." Leah said.

"Jake's dead?" I asked. All three of them shook their heads. "I thought that if your imprint died, you died. Something about soulmates?" I asked.

"The elders aren't really sure what they were, but they weren't soulmates. That's for sure." The vehemence in Embry's tone was something I had never heard before.

"We don't know what it was," Leah continued, "whether the Imprint went bad, or what. She twisted it. Made Jake do things that hurt him. Tortured him with it. Constantly made him prove how much he loved her. First with you, then with other things. Twisted the imprint so hard it nearly broke."

"Then she died. She was out in the forest when a howl came up that leeches were in the area." Embry picked up where Leah had left off. "No one really knows what's going on with Jacob. He's been sick since she died two weeks ago. They're not sure how much longer he'll last. They're pretty sure he's dieing, Bells."

I couldn't breathe. The thought of the torture Jake had undergone nearly broke my heart. I remembered his smile. His patience. His ability to fix anything. His ability to fix _me_.

I felt the warmth of the hounds and pulled myself together. "Can I see him?" I asked quietly.

"He's bad Bells. I don't think it's a good idea." Leah said.

"I _want_ to see him." I said forcefully.

Leah, Quil, and Embry exchanged glances as if having a silent discussion. Embry nodded once. "We'll take you to go see him. You deserve that much at least, to say goodbye."

"We'll clean up and then head down there." Leah said, trying to put this off as much as possible.

I got up and started to clear the dishes. The faster we got done, the quicker I could see my Jake.

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**Dun-dun-duuuuun. I wonder what's going on with Jake...**

**I'm holding the next chapter hostage… 15 reviews and I'll post it. It could be up pretty quickly since it's ready to go!**


	12. Chapter 12: Healing

**You guys totally rock... I had to post this on a break from work because you reviewed so quickly!**

**And now for my favorite chapter!**

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**Hellhounds and Demons**

Chapter 12

Healing

We had just finished up the dishes when my phone rang. I picked it up quickly when I saw it was my dad on the phone. "Hi, Dad, you having a good time?"

I could hear howling in the background as Dad answered. "Bells, I'm going to need you to bring me some stuff down to Billy's as soon as you can. You need to grab the leather bag with the same pattern on it as your scabbard that's in the front closet. Grab that stuff you gave me last night too."

"The Vitamin R? Or the leftover pizza?" I asked completely confused as I headed to the closet. Embry was right behind me and I pointed to the bag that was on the top shelf. There was no way I was going to reach it unless I grew wings. We headed back towards the kitchen.

"No, Bells, that stuff you put _in_ my Vitamin R." he said.

"Oh, no prob." _Demonbrew. Wonder what Dad could want with that?_ I thought as I pulled it down off the shelf and packed it in the bag Dad asked me to bring.

"You might see if you can get a ride from one of your friends. It'll be faster than coming down in the truck." _Okay, what is with this cryptic shit. Why would driving in Embry's car be faster than in my truck? Embry didn't even drive up here- Oh. Wolfback it is._

"Alright, I'll see what I can do." I wondered if Dad was trying to not give away something. Almost as if he didn't want to involve anyone else in the conversation. _Noninvolvement_. I guess Dad hadn't spilled the beans about being a Demon to Billy or the pack.

"Bring a heavy jacket for the ride down, but you won't need it when you get down here. You'll be warm enough. We might have a bon_fire_." Lucky lighter, _check_. I patted my front pocket and it was where I liked to keep it.

"One more thing, make sure you let out the cats and the hounds. Don't want them cooped up in the house while you're gone." Bring Nico, Demus, King, Demon, and Brimstone, _check_. They were all out prowling the forest. Nico and Demus were keeping away from Embry, Quil, and Leah.

"Anything else I need to bring?" I asked quickly.

"No, but you might get angry at what I have to tell you." Rage state, _check_. I mentally prepared myself for the possibility of a coming fight.

"K, I'll be down in a few." I threw my jacket on and strapped the leather messenger bag over my shoulder. Quil and Leah were already outside, Embry was holding the door open for me.

"Be safe, Bells." I could hear a bit of worry tinge his voice.

"I'll be safer than Red Riding Hood." I said, trying to lift his spirits. I locked the door behind me, and saw that Quil, Leah, and Embry were already phased.

He chuckled. "See you soon."

"Bye, Dad." I turned the phone off and tucked it into my pocket. Quil nudged me in my side and crouched down low.

"Guess you're my ride tonight?" Quil whined a bit and Embry yipped as I pulled myself up onto Quil's back. I leaned down and wrapped my arms as far down around Quil's neck as I could reach. Embry and Leah took off quietly. Quil starting out at a much slower pace but caught up with the other two shortly.

_King_, I whispered through our connection.

_Yes_, he answered.

_I need you and the boys to follow me. Bring Nico and Demus, but stay out of sight of the wolves._ I wasn't sure if he would understand all my words, but I pushed images at him to emphasize my point.

I heard him howling his approval of my plans and concentrated on keeping a hold of Quil. The run was a lot shorter than I expected. Before I knew it, we were there.

I tumbled off of Quil, and headed towards the house, knowing the other three would be following in a minute. A chill ran up my back as I heard the whimpering from inside. I pushed my way in, instead of knocking.

"Dad," I called out.

"In here, Bells." my dad said from further in the house. I passed some of the pack, but didn't really pay attention to who it was.

I gasped when I walked into Jacob's room. The heat in the room had me quickly stripping my jacket off. I paused as the first thing I saw was Billy in his wheelchair next to the bed, holding onto Jacob's hand. I followed the line of their arms and looked carefully at Jacob. He was shivering fiercely underneath a mountain of covers. He looked pale and was covered in a sheen of sweat. The intermittent whimpering was from him. I searched for my dad, and found him talking quietly to someone on his cell phone. My eyes went back to Jacob and tears filled my eyes.

"Billy, I'm going to ask you to do me a favor." Dad said when he was done with his converstion. "I'm going to fix Jake, but I'm going to need you to let me do this and save all your questions and protests for later."

"Right now, Charlie, I'm willing to do anything." Billy answered, drawing my attention away from Jacob. Tears were streaming down his face. He looked worn out, tired.

"Bells, go out back and start a fire. _Anything_ that will burn will do. You're going to need at least a twenty foot radius. " I turned to do as he asked.

"Quil, Embry, Paul, Jared, grab Jake and follow her. Sam, Seth, grab the mattress and put it out by the door. Put Jake on it for the moment." I heard as I walked out the door. I pulled out my lighter and sparked it. _Burn_. The fire leapt from the lighter to the ground where I directed it. The little bit of dry grass burned quickly. I turned back to watch as the guys carried Jacob out.

"Stay back boys."

Dad came up to me. "How many blades do you have on you?"

I quickly counted in my head, "Nine."

"That include your sword?"

"Yes," I answered quickly.

"Give me the smaller blades. Keep your sword. Largest first. They matched and blooded?" He asked as I started quickly pulling a couple of the larger daggers and handed them to him. Someone from the pack snorted as I continued to pull blade after blade off of my person.

"Yes." I said, pushing down the urge to scoff. As if I would have anything less.

"They hum to you yet?" he asked as he leaned down and started placing the blades in a large circle, points facing outward. It was at least ten feet wide.

"Yes. Started yesterday." I threw a couple of throwing daggers to him as he moved further and further away from me.

"Good. Burn the grass away within the circle. Blue flames." He said and I jumped the fire to the center of the circle, heating it up, and quickly moving it out in a spiral to where he indicated. Billy gasped as a couple of rumbling growls were let out from the pack.

"Nico, Demus, King, Demon, Brimstone," he called out. More growls rumbled as two large shadows followed by three smaller shadows pulled away from the forest. "Guard." They moved around the circle and sat, evenly spaced from one another. The fire danced and reflected in their eyes.

Dad addressed the pack. "They won't hurt you. But I need you to trust me."

Sam nodded his assent and the pack quieted down. They continued to shift uneasily.

"Bells, give me the bag. Leave the scabbard and holsters and go take off everything but the leathers." I did as he asked and scurried off to bathroom, quickly taking off my shoes, socks, vest, shirt and then put the vest back on. I ran back outside, slipping between Jared and Sam.

Dad was pulling out the Demonbrew. "Gramps taught you how to match temperatures?"

I nodded.

"Go sit down in the middle of the circle. Keep the fire up behind you. You'll need it soon." I did as he bid.

"Quil, Embry, Paul, Jared, grab Jake. Bring him into the circle. Lean him on her, his back to her front. Bella, you're going to have to hold him." I reached out as they brought Jacob to me. His cool skin gave me chills.

"Build up the fire, Bells. Boys, back off." I could feel the fire rising behind me.

"Alright, Bells, this is what we're going to do. You're going to wrap your right arm around his head, keeping it tilted a little bit back. Might be easiest if you rest his head on your shoulder. Your left arm is going to hold his chest to you. You need to wrap your legs around his torso, holding his arms tight. I'll hold his legs." It was strangely intimate holding Jacob so close to me. But I wasn't going to worry about it right now.

"Which one of you boys has the steadiest hands?" Dad asked.

"Embry." Sam said and Embry stepped forward.

"Bells, you need to match the Demonbrew to Jacob's temperature, and then Embry, you're going to pour as much of this stuff down his throat that you can until I say stop." Dad raised the bottle in question so that Embry could see it.

"Now Jake is going to thrash around for a bit. Bella you're going to have to keep him as still as possible so that he doesn't hurt himself and Embry can finish pouring. You might have to hold his jaw open."

"When he starts sweating, Bells, you're going to have to burn it off of him."

"What?!" Growls from the pack almost drowned out the sound of my shriek. A few of them stepped towards us before Nico turned and roared at them. The hellhounds growled as well, and the pack stepped back, quiet.

"You have to burn the sweat off his skin." he repeated calmly.

"I don't know if I can do that." I said panicked.

"You can do it. Gramps said you have the control necessary." he assured me.

"Why can't you do it? You have more experience!" I tried to convince him.

"I haven't touched fire in twenty-five years, Bells. At this point, you have better control than I do. You can do it, Bella." he said again. His steady gaze bore into mine, filled with a confidence that I lacked. I nodded my head.

"He'll probably phase when you've burned all the poison in his sweat away, just hold on, and don't let him pin you. Jake might take a moment to recognize you. Above all else, keep your hands away from his mouth." I braced myself, tightening my legs around Jacob. I could feel the slow throb of Jacob's heart beat, much slower than it should be.

I gestured Embry closer to me so I could match the temperatures. His eyes narrowed in on my claws, which were out. He avoided my eyes, but I could see the fear in his. I wasn't sure if it was fear for Jacob, or fear of me.

Dad grabbed the blankets off of Jacob and threw them back towards the rest of the pack. I didn't see who grabbed it as I concentrated. Dad knelt down and put his hands on Jacob's thighs. I pried open Jacob's mouth, his chin scratchy against my palm.

"Embry, pour." Dad said.

Jacob almost immediately began to thrash. I tried to keep his head steady so Embry could get it down his throat, but he was pretty strong for someone so sick. Rage quickly overtook as I tightened my grip. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched as Dad grew larger, pushing firmly down on Jacob's legs.

"Keep going, Embry." Dad said calmly.

A violent wrench from Jacob had my hand torn from his chin. The bottle of Demonbrew was almost ripped from Embry's hands, but his quick reflexes had it back to his lips almost instantly.

"Almost there," Dad kept careful watch.

"Little bit more." A putrid smell started to come from Jacob's body. I built the fire up behind us even more.

"Embry, get ready to move back." Dad said as Jacob jerked a bit more.

"Now. Move, Embry." Jacob slumped in my arms, no longer thrashing.

"Hold him tight, Bells." Dad let go of his legs and checked Jacob's pulse. I could still feel his slow heartbeat against mine.

"Come on, Jake." Dad said pleadingly. Warmth started to flood from Jacob's body.

"Bells, he's almost there, you're going to have to get the fire as hot as you can handle it." Dad backed up and the leopards and hounds backed up as well.

The stench coming off of Jacob grew worse, and it burned my nostrils. It started to smell sickly sweet, sort of like vampire. I felt the sweat start to pour off his body and I quickly pulled the fire over the both of us, holding him tightly. The fire cut off almost all of my senses. Nico and Demus's roars sounded faint over the roar of the flames.

The heat was everywhere, the fire dancing along my skin. My blades hummed loudly as I turned all my attention inward, making sure that the fire burned the sweat, but didn't hurt Jacob. I turned the heat up as high as I could, it sang in tune with the humming of my blades.

I had no idea how long I kept the fire wrapped around our bodies, but I could feel Jacob's heart start to speed up, almost in time with my own. The sweat slowed and I let the fire start to die down.

I clamped my legs tighter as Jacob shifted in my arms. He shook his head and a shudder wracked through his body. His already large body got even bigger as he started to phase. I snuffed the fire on our skin and sent a couple of fireballs in the air so that I could see. The entire pack had phased. Dad was enormous. The hellcats and hellhounds were between Dad and the pack, snarling and keeping them back.

Jacob's fur was soft against my bare arms, and I nuzzled my face into it. He smelled like my Jake again. Bucking like a bronco, Jacob was twisting and turning, trying to throw me off. I held tightly to him, hoping he wouldn't throw me too hard when he finally did.

"Don't break his ribs, Bella." He was probably bucking so hard because I was hurting him. I loosened my grip and my left arm flailed. Sharp teeth embedded in my wrist and pain flooded my senses. Darkness engulfed the backyard as I lost control of the fire. I heard the rasp of a lighter as pressure built on my arm, and I was jerked roughly off of Jacob's back. Pain burst across my head and back as I hit the ground hard.

Light flooded the back yard again, and I closed my eyes against the brightness. Jacob's growls drowned out the sound of the pack, and the hound's growls, and Dad, Nico, and Demus's roars. Pressure built on my chest, as one of Jacob's dinner plate sized paws pinned me to the ground. Heat from his breath burst over my face, and I felt the pinpricks of his teeth close over my throat.

Panic flooded my body as my eyes flew open and met Jacob's. His growl turned into a whimper as the pain from his teeth receded and the pressure on my chest released. I closed my eyes, my heart pounding frantically, praying that it would be quick.


	13. Chapter 13: Explanations II

**Hellhounds and Demons**

Chapter 13

Explanations

A wet nose nudged my cheek. Piteous whining and a slobbery lick across my lips startled me as I opened my eyes again. I looked into Jacob's warm eyes, saw the apology in them and threw my arms around his neck, pulling him down to me. His heartbeat was in sync with mine and I breathed his scent in deeply. Peace filled me. Jacob was back. He was whole.

Loose dirt puffed up from the slight breeze caused by Jacob's body hitting the ground to my right. The pain in my back flared up again as I was jostled slightly. I hissed in reaction.

"Bells, shit. Sam, fucking move." Words I had never thought to hear pass my dad's lips came tumbling out. I looked over and watched as he shoved Sam out of the way and quickly made his way over to us. Dad slowed as growls started up again from Jacob. "Jake, son, let me see her."

I released my left wrist and lifted it towards my dad as he knelt on my left side. Jacob watched closely as Dad twisted it slightly and called one of the fireballs down closer. The skin was ripped pretty badly, but the bones weren't damaged. "Embry, bring me the Demonbrew. Bells don't be grossed out, but Jake, lick this."

Jacob slobbered over my wrist and I couldn't help but comment. "Eww."

"This is gonna hurt, Bells." Dad directed the fireball along the gashes and I screamed.

The pain receded and I was missing Jacob's warmth. I looked over and Jacob was snarling at Dad, standing over me.

"Jake, damnit, back up. Her wrist is fine now, look." Dad pushed Jacob's big head towards me and Jacob snuffled along my wrist. Jacob snorted once and then lay back down beside me, eyes still trained on my dad.

"Broken bones?" Dad asked. I shook my head no in answer.

"Embry, where's the Demonbrew?" Dad said as he pulled me up into a sitting position. Jacob shuffled around behind me, supporting me.

"Hold your horses, I had to get some pants." Embry said as he handed the bottle to my dad.

"Sip, don't guzzle." Dad said as he handed the bottle over to me. I sipped carefully on the Demonbrew, knowing how potent it could be. The sharp pain in my back and head burned away as the heat infused my body. I felt a little achy still, but figured I would be fine by tomorrow.

I heard Billy's wheelchair creak as he got close to where we were sitting in the dirt. Oddly comfortable, I didn't feel like moving. Most of the pack was missing, probably in search of pants. King, Demon, and Brimstone slunk closer to us, bellies nearly touching the ground, heads down in a submissive pose. Jacob sniffed once, and they rushed up to me, eager to lick any skin they could get to.

"Eww, Brimstone, not my toes." The boys calmed down, and curled up around me, their heat comforting. King cocked his head to the side and stared up at Jacob. Jacob's head pulled back and snorted once, before getting really close to King and nipping him on his ear. _Good mate_, whispered through my mind before King settled down on my left side.

Dad was sprawled out on his back, flicking his fingers at the fireballs, making them dance. I settled back against Jacob, watching my dad play with fire for the first time in my life. Nico came over and tried to bat at one of the fireballs that was close enough to him. When Dad started doodling words and pictures, Billy interrupted the calm that had settled among us. "You mind telling me what the hell that was?"

"Jake was suffering from vampire poisoning since he was still being fed off of by an Empousa when she died from a vampire bite. Bells and I are Demons that can control fire, those," Dad gestured to my boys. "are Bella's familiars, King, Demon, and Brimstone. These are my familiars, Nico and Demus. I've been broken for the last twenty five years, so much of it's a blur. Bells snapped me out of it last night by giving me Demonbrew." Demus brushed up against Billy's leg, purring heavily. "I just gave Jake Demonbrew which heated him up enough to sweat the venom out and Bells burned the venom off his skin."

"Jake, Sam, Paul, Jared, Embry, Quil, Leah, Seth, Brady, and Colin, are all wolf shapeshifters. The Cullens, who were vampires, caused your boys to shift and nearly dazzled my Bells to death. Bells makes weapons that can kill vampires and metal whispers to her. My dad was playing my son when he met your grandfather, Ephraim Black, the Alpha of the last wolf pack here in La Push. He was actually a really great guy, one of my best friends before he was killed. You remind me of him a lot, which is why I think we're such good friends.

"There's a redheaded vampire named Victoria that's been hassling the pack for a couple of years now. She wants to kill Bella, which is nearly impossible now, by the way. Victoria was the one who was responsible for killing the Empousa, which was good, cause I should have taken her out years ago. Any questions?"

I burst out laughing at the end of Dad's informational overload. Noninvolvement went right out the window. There was silence for a few seconds before a pair of shorts smacked Jacob in the face. I looked over and the rest of the pack was all in a semicircle around us, confusion on each of their faces as they tried to make sense of my dad's verbal diarrhea.

Jacob nudged my side softly and I looked at him. "Oh, I guess you want to phase back and get dressed?" I asked as I leaned forward so he could get up.

He snuffled over me thoroughly. I pushed Jacob's big head away, "Go, I'll still be here when you get back."

Jacob licked my cheek once before trotting off to the darkened forest.

"What's an empousa?" Sam was the first one to ask.

"I think we'll wait for Jake to come back. Especially since it concerns him." Dad said.

"Um, Dad, can I get my blades back?" I asked, a chill running up my spine as I missed Jacob's warmth.

"Unless you want to dig them out of the ground, you're out of luck." Dad answered.

"What?" I asked incredulous.

"See the circle around you? Do you see any blades?"

I looked around. There were little mounds of dirt where the blades had been originally. "No."

"It's actually better if you leave them. Vampire's won't be able to get within a hundred feet of them. I'd rather Billy was safe, especially with the activity that's been going on around here lately. You have more, right?"

"Yeah, but they're all at the shop." I pouted as Jacob jogged back over to me. He settled behind me again, pulling me back into his chest. He kissed my temple and breathed deeply. Warmth flooded through me as I felt our heartbeats sync up.

"Oh," Dad said casually to Billy before dropping the biggest bomb of all, "and Jake imprinted on Bella which is good, because he's her Beloved."

XOX

I pulled back from Jacob and turned in his arms. Warm nearly black eyes met my chocolate browns, shock coursing through my body. Jacob nodded, confirming my father's news. His voice was extremely rusty from disuse as he whispered, "I love you, Bells. Always have. Always will."

"Oh, god, Jake, I love you, too. So much." I whispered back as I reached up to caress his cheek. Jacob pulled me tighter to him and leaned down to brush his lips tentatively against mine. Soft heat pressed upon my lips, sending a tingling up my spine. I rubbed my lips firmly against his. Heat built in me as he nibbled along my lower lip, pulling it down and snaking his tongue inside my mouth. Pulling me closer to him, Jacob stroked his tongue against mine. We were broken from our trance by what felt like a ball hitting my back. I opened my eyes to see fire licking over my shoulders, across Jake's chest, and flicker away into the night sky. The pack was loud with wolf whistles and catcalls. I turned back to my father, pulled a fireball out of the dancing fire above us and threw it back at him.

"Bells, we can play catch later. Now's not the time." Dad said with a huge grin on his face. Jacob's laughter rumbled through my chest.

"So, Bella, guess that means our dozen children are out of the question, now." Jacob stiffened at Quil's question.

I rested my hand on Jacob's forearm and squeezed before answering. "Quil, we were never going to practice making children, let alone actually have them."

Quil's smile never diminished as the rest of the pack cracked up, and Embry pushed him over into the dirt.

"Now, before we continue answering every single question you have, Billy," Dad grinned at his friend. "Is there anyone else that should be here so that we don't have to tell it over and over again? The pack's imprints should probably be here for this. And I'm sure Jake's starving. Why don't we reconvene in about thirty minutes?"

Everyone headed off in different directions. Jacob and I headed into the house, and I immediately started rummaging in the kitchen. "Grilled cheese and tomato soup sound okay?"

Jacob pulled me close to him, his chin resting on the top of my head. "You don't have to cook, honey. I'm sure there are leftovers I can warm up." His voice was still painful sounding, but getting better.

"But I want to take care of you. Please?" I asked.

"Sure, sure." My favorite phrase fell from his lips.

I started getting the stuff out and could barely move without constantly bumping into Jacob. I huffed at him, "Seriously, you are in my way."

He shrugged, grinning at me. "You like it."

"Not so much at the moment," I huffed as I pushed past him once again to pull something out of the fridge.

"Oh, come on, honey, I just like touching you." Jacob said while running the backs of his fingers up my arms.

"Well, you're kind of a nuisance." I chided him with a grin.

I finished putting the sandwiches together before turning to get the griddle out. Jacob was in my way once again. I couldn't stop the growl that escaped, channeled my anger, picked him up and put him on the counter, out of my way. "Stay." I said pointing at him with a smile on my face.

The griddle was quickly plugged in and heating up as I started the grilled cheese cooking. I dumped three cans of soup into a large bowl, heated it up carefully, and pushed it into his hands with a spoon. I slid between his legs and waited for the sandwiches to finish. He quickly ate the soup and put the bowl in the sink. Jacob pulled me close as I started pulling the finished grilled cheese off the griddle and onto the waiting plate. Jacob polished off five sandwiches while I nibbled on a half of one, and then we went back outside.

We moved Jacob's mattress closer to the blade circle and headed into the garage to pull the worn, but comfortable sofa out. There were a couple of logs that were by the woodpile, waiting to be split, so we added those to the circle. We went back into the garage and found the camping supplies. Jacob handed me the sleeping bags and I started untying and unzipping them. I spread them out over the logs to make them both a bit more comfortable.

As we worked, we moved in sync. It was as if we knew what the other was thinking. When we were done, we settled on the mattress, the hellhounds yet again curling up next to us.

Dad and Charlie joined us before too long. Billy transferred himself to one end of the couch as my dad took the other. Nico curled up at my dad's feet. Demus laid across Billy's lap, acting as a living blanket. I could hear Demus' purr from here. Both of them blended into the shadows, and weren't noticed unless you knew they were there. There was another fifteen minutes before everyone was supposed to be back.

I decided to ask my dad about an idea that had been thinking about since Dad explained about the blade circles, "Dad, how close do the blades have to be in order to do the protection thing?"

"Depends on the size of the blade." Dad answered.

"What if we made large spikes, blooded and matched them, and drove them into the ground around La Push? Would that protect all of La Push?"

Billy's breath caught as he realized the implications of this.

Dad pulled a bit of fire out of the fire we had left in the middle circle and used it to draw what the spikes would look like. "If you made the spikes four feet long, you could drive them in every half mile or so. The rez is about one and a half square miles, so you would need about ten? Maybe 12 if you want to include James Island."

"What about the ocean?" Billy asked.

"Won't be a problem. This metal doesn't corrode under water." I said.

"You are not swimming out there." Jacob grumbled from behind me.

"Don't have to. I can bury it from the cliffs." I answered.

"Huh?" Jacob said a look of confusion on his face.

"Don't know how. But I know I can do it." I reassured him as I turned to my dad with a smirk, "So, Dad, you up to donating some blood?"

"Only for you, kid." Dad smiled back at me. Pulling out a stream of fire, he started drawing a map of La Push and designated where the spikes were going to be buried.

"I'll blood them tomorrow, and we can bury them in the afternoon?"

"You already have them made?" Dad asked.

"They whispered." I said quietly.

"I should have known." Dad smirked.

"Whispered?" Billy asked.

"When I work with metal, it usually tells me what it wants to be. These wanted to be spikes, about four feet long, five inches thick at the top. There's sixteen of them though." I said, calling the fire back down into our 'bonfire' as I heard people walking through the forest.

"We can bury the other four around the house. I always wanted a leech deadzone."

* * *

**So.. I'm so sorry, but I've been completely lazy about review replies. Honestly, my face hurts because I had a root canal last Thursday and it has not inspired me to do anything but veg out when I get home from work. The drugs aren't making it feel any better (at least the ones that don't knock me out which I can't take during the day).**

**Think of this as one great big, THANK YOU VERY MUCH! review reply. I am so thankful for all the reviews that I have gotten for this story. It is very encouraging! Reviews are like candy, and man, do I have a sweet tooth! You all rock!**


	14. Chapter 14: Further Explanations

**Hellhounds and Demons**

Chapter 14

Further Explanations

Paul and Jared came back carrying a large sofa between them. It looked just as worn out as the one from Jacob's garage. They set it down by the fire and scooted some of the other 'furniture' to make room. Rachel and Kim followed them with some bags in hand. Kim sat down on the new couch as Rachel made her way over to us. Paul winked at me from across the fire as he broke into the snacks.

"Hey little brother, glad to see you back in the land of the living." she said warmly. Rachel sat down on the mattress and leaned over to hug Jacob. He flinched slightly before wrapping his arms around her. Rachel turned to me and said, "Bella, it's been awhile."

"It has." I replied warmly. We made small talk as the rest of the pack meandered over, some of them bringing outdoor furniture and beach chairs. I saw Sue sit down with her kids. Quil was helping Old Quil settle in comfortably as other people wandered in. Embry strolled up carrying a giant rucksack on his back. I felt the familiar hum of metal emanating from it. I squealed and hopped up. Aches that had been ignored while sitting immediately flared up.

I grabbed the rucksack from Embry with a kiss on his cheek and brought it back to the mattress. Embry claimed the spot Rachel had just vacated, telling Jacob to shove it when he growled a bit. People continued to chit chat, breaking out snacks that they had brought. Someone brought s'mores and the smell of roasting marshmallows filled the air. Brimstone left my side to see who he could beg snacks off of. Demon wandered off to steal food, no begging for him.

I dug through the bag, feeling what Embry brought me. Jacob peeked over my shoulder as I started pulling out the spikes and laying them in front of the fire. "You ready to donate some blood, Dad?"

"Sure. Sue, if you would do the honors?" Dad turned to her and asked holding the messenger bag out to her. Sue nodded and walked over to the couch. She had him quickly set up.

I continued digging into my rucksack, filling the built in sheaths on my vest with the extra blades . "Dad, where's my holsters?"

"Here," he answered as he handed them towards me. I strapped them all on and filled them. As I slid my sword in it's scabbard, and tingle went up my spine

"What was that, Bells?" Jacob asked.

"You felt that?" I responded.

"Yeah. Made me feel like someone else is watching over you, protecting you." Jacob explained.

"That's cause that was what they were meant to do. Metal whispers, Jake, and sometimes it hums." I smiled.

"You are so weird." Jacob said with a grin.

"At least I don't get all fuzzy!" I smacked him in the arm, laughing.

I pulled a smaller bag out and peered inside. "Oh, I was hoping you brought these!"

Embry laughed. "The bag was labeled La Push. Figured you'd want it here eventually."

I laid out the multiple sets of twin throwing daggers on the mattress in front of me. I picked up the first set, pulled down the covering on the blade, and leaned back toward Jacob, "Jake, what does this say?"

"What are you talking about, Bells?" he asked.

"See the dark lines, they're words, but I don't know what they mean." I answered.

Jacob turned the blade so it caught the light. "It says Ateara in Quileute." I placed the twin knives back down, and asked him about the next one. He kept it up, and I changed the order around a couple of times. We got through them all just as the last pack member sat around the fire.

Billy started talking, "Some of you know why we are gathered tonight, others don't. Earlier, Charlie and Bella saved Jacob from dying. We are primarily here to ask questions of Charlie. Sue, Old Quil, we're here to record as much information as possible. The pack is here because it concerns them."

"Before we get started, Bells has some things to hand out." Charlie said. _Nice, dad, way to put me on the spot._

"Sorry, my Christmas presents were late this year." I said rolling my eyes. A couple of pack members chuckled. I got up, and started handing out the daggers. Embry and Jacob had grabbed a couple and handed them to the people whose last name were written on the blades. I followed along behind them, knowing that they had unknowingly given some to the wrong person.

"Hey, why does Kim get a present, and I don't? It has my name on it." Jared asked as I handed the ones Jacob had given them to his imprint.

"That's because you don't need them. You have claws and fangs." I answered as I headed back to sit down.

"Oh," Jared said.

"Why do the non-imprinted wolves get a set?" Sam asked.

"They're for their imprints." I answered.

"What if they never imprint?" Embry asked quietly. I knew this was one of his fears. To never imprint, but to never attempt a relationship with the fear of imprinting hanging over their heads.

I turned to him with a smile and said, "They will."

"How do you know?" Sam asked doubt lacing his tone.

"Metal whispers." I said cryptically. I wasn't sure how to explain it. It just did it.

"What does that mean?" Sam demanded.

"What Bella means," Dad said, his voice calm, "is that when she picked up the piece of metal that makes that dagger, it whispered it's purpose to her. It wouldn't tell her what it wanted to be if it wasn't possible for it to be that thing."

"And how do you know this?" Sam asked, digesting this information.

"Metal used to whisper to me, too." Dad said, my head whipped around and I searched my fathers face. Sadness was there, in his eyes, in his frown, in the slump of his shoulders. I wanted to comfort him, but didn't know how.

"Alright, we're getting off track." Billy interrupted. "Charlie, you said that Jacob was dying from vampire poisoning? And that an empousa was feeding off of him?"

"An empousa is a creature that feeds off of human emotions. They're worse than vampires, because as they slowly kill you, they feed off of your pain and fears, torturing you. They don't look any different than regular humans and are really hard to detect."

"Mina," Rachel put the clues together, "Jake's imprint."

"She wasn't his imprint." Charlie said and all the pack growled lowly. The imprinted wolves all pulled their imprints tighter in their arms. Jacob was squeezing me, harder than I would have been able to stand a year ago, his nose buried in my hair. "What's the worst pain that Jake could have felt?"

"To have to send his imprint away from him." Sam said, remembering his own separation from Emily when they were still fighting the imprint. When they were trying to do anything to keep from hurting Leah.

"But Bella wasn't his imprint then." Paul stated.

"He knew he would be." Dad continued. Jacob relaxed a bit, and kissed the back of my neck before pulling back. The involuntary shiver that went down my back was not from cold. "It couldn't have happened till Bells hit full maturity, but he knew it subconsciously. He's known they were soulmates since they first met. Billy, remember the way they would cry when we had to leave when they were little."

Billy chuckled in remembrance. "And the vampire poisoning?" he prompted.

"She got bit right?" Dad asked. Billy nodded yes.

"If she were a normal human, she would have turned into a vampire. But because she was an Empousa, she siphoned off the venom into Jake's body through her bond. She had drawn all the venom off, but had lost too much blood, which is what she died of. Jacob's healing abilities were the reason why he could fight it off for so long. But it was trying to turn him into a vampire."

"Was that why we smelt the stench of vampire?"

"Yeah, he sweated out the venom after I gave him the Demonbrew." Charlie continued. "We like heat. There's no fire we can't withstand. At least none naturally made."

"Demonbrew makes you hot." Dad continued. "It raised Jake's body temperature up to his normal temperature, and Bells burned the sweat off as it came out. If it would have stuck to his skin for too long, it would have started eating away at it and reabsorbing into his body."

"Burned the sweat off?" Rachel asked. Everyone that hadn't witnessed what happened earlier had confused looks on their faces. My face burned as everyone's attention was on me.

I flicked my hand, and called the fire, dancing it along my skin. Gasps broke out and Jacob growled, holding me tighter to him. I turned to him and gazed into his eyes. "Trust me?"

"It's not you I don't trust." He grumbled.

"You didn't see this before, so I wanted to show you." I pleaded.

"I got the instant replay." Jacob said. A couple of the pack members chuckled.

"Please?" _Great, reduced to begging._

"Alright but I'm not watching." Jacob huffed and closed his eyes tight. Everyone seemed to hold their breath.

I grinned and danced the fire from my arm, down to where my hands rested on his chest, up and over his shoulders, around his back, over his opposite shoulder and on up my other arm. The fire flickered a bit before I tossed it back to join the rest. He shuddered a bit and opened his eyes back up. "That was weird. It was like you were licking me." The tension broke as loud guffaws and relieved giggles came from around the circle.

"So you're a firestarter?" asked Old Quil.

"No, Bells and I are Fire Demons." Dad answered. _And the tension was back._ I heard murmuring and swearing as I concentrated on Billy's face. He was oddly calm in comparison to everyone else. I watched him as Dad continued, "No, we're not evil, no we don't take people's souls, and no we don't kill humans. We do control fire, are stronger than average, are fast, and have heightened senses."

The tension lessened after Dad's explanation. I couldn't stop myself from asking, "Billy, you seemed awfully calm. Care to share?"

"There are stories that have passed down in my family." Billy said. "Stories that are not in the tribe's oral histories. They are of a strange pale face that was great friends with the wolves. According to them, he danced with the fire and fought with a fierceness never seen before. He helped hunt vampires with Ephraim's pack. Tales of him hunting with Taha Aki's pack. These tales were passed down father to son in the hopes that if the pack ever phased again, he would be there once more."

"I was the one who fought with Ephraim's pack. My father was the one who fought with Taha Aki's pack. And it seems like Bella is the one that will fight with Jake's pack." Growls came from around the circle, but none as loud as the one from the chest behind me.

"She'll be killed." Sam said.

"No, I won't." I protested.

"That's right you won't, because you won't be anywhere near the bloodsuckers." Jacob grumbled into my neck, tension tight in his arms.

"Yes, I will." I stated quietly but firmly. "I've already killed one vampire, and Victoria's building an army. She's after me, and I intend to meet her head on. It's my mess, I'll help clean it up."

"You killed a leech?" Paul asked, joy evident in his tone.

"Yeah, the one you guys ripped up but forgot to burn." I said.

"That dread-locked dude?" Quil asked.

I nodded.

"How?" Sam asked.

"With this." I said, pulling my sword from it's sheath.

"You know how to wield that, missy?" Quil joked around.

"Better than you could." I winked at him and re-sheathed my sword.

"Won't that shatter against a vampire? Their skin is harder than almost anything." Sam asked, still skeptical.

"It's special, what we call blooded. It'll cut through a vampire. All the blades I gave out are blooded. They're meant to protect the imprints and give the wolves a bit of peace of mind." I explained.

"Your Gramps know that you gave away million dollar _pretties_?" Dad asked. Gasps, chokes, and splutters sounded from around the circle.

"I wasn't planning on telling him, so how's he to know?" I said, glaring at Dad for bringing attention to the price tag.

"These are worth that much?" Billy said, looking down at the twin daggers in his lap, turning them over and over.

"Bells is the only Demon who can make them." Dad boasted as my face grew hot. "It's a very rare talent that hasn't been seen in hundreds of years."

"So you could make a ton of these and become a billionaire." Quil said. "Sure you don't want my babies?"

"Only babies I want are Jake's." I slapped my hand over my mouth a little too late. Chuckles rang out. Jacob's arms squeezed slightly as all the earlier tension was released. "Besides, I've already made enough money. I don't make blades without purpose. They're stronger and better if they have a purpose. Metal whispers."

"I don't know if we can accept these." Old Quil said, a little sad at the thought of giving them back.

"Those blades wanted to be yours. Sorry, no exchanges, returns or refunds. Unwritten policy. You can pass them down to your descendants." I winked at Old Quil with a small grin.

"But you wrote our names on them." Jared said.

"No, I didn't. I just drew the designs the metal whispered to me. Jake had to read them to me to find out who they were for."

Dad chuckled at a thought. "That's how my father knew she was keeping her sword. She subconsciously wrote her name on it."

I groaned, "Gramps told you about that?"

"Last night. He was so proud he could burst. I owed him half a mil on that bet. I had you pegged for a bow to be your main weapon."

"What's a Beloved?" Jacob asked.

"Our version of an Imprint." Dad explained. "Your soulmate, the one who keeps your heart beating."

"But I didn't have that whole, world tilting on it's axis, gravity not holding me down thing that the guys have said that they feel." I said slightly confused.

"I did," Jacob whispered to me.

"You wouldn't, you're a Demon, not a shapeshifter. You can tell when your heartbeats sync." A gasp cut through the air. If I hadn't been looking in her direction, I would have never seen the shock that crossed Sue's face.

"Oh," I said. A couple more pieces behind the puzzle that was my dad fell into place. "Mom wasn't your Beloved, was she?"

"_Shit_," Dad said in an undertone before answering. "No, she wasn't."

"And you were broken for twenty five years, not the nineteen years since Mom left you. Gramps said she married another. Who else did you know that was married around twenty five years ago." More pieces came together.

"Broken?" Billy asked.

"What happens if the Beloved rejects the bond." I answered, getting angry at what I suspected. "We don't die from it because we're immortal, but basically the lights are on but no one's home."

"Never would have let her get involved with a leech otherwise." Dad muttered.

The last piece of the puzzle clicked and the fire blazed almost uncontrollably as I glared at my father. "Non-involvement _bullshit_." I said standing. Nico and Demus poured over the back of the couch.

"Bells, there are a lot of humans around." Dad stood and climbed over the back of the couch. I stalked him, following him over the couch.

"Oh, cut the shit, Dad." I said as I dragged most of the fire behind me. Keeping it between everyone else and the two of us.

"Did you even tell her?" I demanded.

"No. She was already dating him when I met them." Dad said as he continued to back away from me.

"And you just didn't want to interfere did you." I said malice dripping from my tone.

"Couldn't. What if he phased and imprinted on her?" Gasps were heard.

"Two fucking words, Dad. Soul. Mate." I punctuated the last two words with fireballs hot enough to singe if he didn't defuse them fast enough. "He wouldn't have imprinted even if he phased."

"He loved her." Pain flared in his eyes.

"Not as much as you did." I threw another fireball at him.

"I couldn't hurt them like that." He looked down.

"So you hurt yourself instead?" I closed my eyes and reached for something, anything that would calm me down. _Jake_. I took a deep breath. "Sometimes, Dad, you have to fight for what you want."

"I realize that now."

"Do you?"

"Yes," he said firmly.

"So am I going to tell her or are you?"

"_She_ already figured it out." I whipped my head around, dampened the fire, and saw Sue standing there. "Charlie, I think you and I need to have a talk."

He nodded his head and followed after her. Nico and Demus trailed after them after a few moments.

* * *

**Does that answer _some_ of your questions? XD You guys are awesome! I love reading all your reviews! Keep it up!**


	15. Chapter 15: Spikes

**Hellhounds and Demons**

Chapter 15

Spikes

Jacob scooped me up in his arms and carried me back to the mattress. I snuggled into his warmth, all anger released as I felt his heart pulse in time with mine.

"Well, I think that's more than enough information for the night." Billy said. "I'm going to take my old bones to bed. Don't make too much racket." He nodded at Sam before leaving. Old Quil gathered up the journal he had been writing in and slowly made his way out as well.

Shock was still evident on most of the pack's faces. Seth was the first to break the silence, "Your dad loves my mom?"

"Apparently." I answered. King licked my face and I scratched his ears absentmindedly.

"Well, if I have to have another sibling, I'm glad it's a sister and not another annoying brother." Leah said with a smirk.

"Hey," Seth said before Leah laughed. Other people joined in with chuckles and the quiet moment was broken. The pack broke up into little groups and started their own conversations.

I turned to Jacob, "I'm going to work on those spikes, that way we can bury them first thing in the morning."

"Can I watch?" he asked.

"Sure, but it's not really all that interesting." I answered.

"But I find everything you do interesting." he said, waggling his eyebrows at me. I rolled my eyes and slapped his arm lightly.

I grabbed the rucksack, knowing the only tool I would need would be there. I pulled out the refillable brush pen and then grabbed the bag of blood. Carefully, I poured some of the blood into the ink reservoir, spit in it to keep the blood from clotting, and screwed the tip back on. Kinda gross to think that my saliva was needed, but I stopped thinking about it after I figured out how well it worked. Quil came over and joined Embry and Jacob on the mattress. Jacob smacked Quil up the backside of the head. "That's for the 'having your babies' comment," he said.

I blocked out the sounds around me, and concentrated on the spikes in front of me. Every person and movement was catalogued, but not made into any importance. I started drawing on the first spike.

I came out of my trance-like state and surveyed what I had done. All sixteen of the spikes were covered in lettering. Thirteen of them looked like gibberish to me. Three of them were easily read and made me crack up. Phrases like, 'No Vamps allowed', 'Keep out', and 'Property of the Swan Demons' were written all over them.

Jacob looked them over and said to me, "They say pretty much the same thing, except for 'Property of the La Push Wolves', and they're all in Quileute."

"I kinda expected that." I grinned at him. "Now for the fun part. At least for me."

I flicked my fingers and the fire washed over the spikes, hissing as the fire met blood. Red smoke drifted up and dissipated into the night sky. I could hear them whispering to me.

"Does this one say something else on it?" I asked Jacob as I pointed to the one that was loudest.

"Huh, didn't see that before. It says, use first." Jacob said.

I followed my instincts, and raised a net of fire above us for light, spun the fire around the spike until it started humming. The spike raised perpendicular to the ground for a moment, dead center of the circle, then buried itself into the ground as if an invisible hand shoved it down. The fire was snuffed out and a small tremor radiated from the center. The entire circle, from the blades that had been previously sunk into the ground, to the spike I just buried, hummed gently for a moment and then fell silent. I fell back against Jacob, the ache in my body soothed by his heat and heartbeat.

"What the hell was that, Swan?" Sam asked.

"Just making it so you all can stop phasing if you want, after we get rid of Victoria." Jacob was the only one not shocked into silence. He snickered into my neck and a shiver raced up my spine. "The metal will repel vampires. Dad says they can't get within a quarter mile of here."

"We won't have to shift anymore?" Sam asked.

"Nope," I replied, "and there won't be anymore little wolves phasing unless they want to."

"What do you mean by that?" Emily asked, her hand going to her abdomen.

"Your bloodlines will always have the ability to phase. But you need to make it a choice, not something you are forced into." I said.

"How do you expect that to happen?"

"You tell the whole tribe." Gasps rang out. "Make it a choice when they turn eighteen. They'll be old enough to make an informed decision by then, and will have grown out of any idealizations of being a wolf. Those who really want it will phase, and those that don't won't."

"Besides secrets like these aren't good for the tribe." I continued. "Embry, does your mom still think you're on drugs?"

"Yeah, she kicked me out. I'm living with Quil." Embry said. I reached over and squeezed his hand.

"You guys fight vampires, it's a lot of work. You don't need the added stress of rumors and speculation working against you."

"How do you know all this?" Sam asked.

"Metal whispers. It's purpose is to keep La Push safe. It will never tire, and it will never fade."

"How the hell are we supposed to get the approval of the elders?" Jared asked.

"We don't." Jacob said. "We piss Paul off at the bonfire tomorrow night. He'll phase, secret's out."

"Hey!" Paul said. "I've gotten better."

"Yeah, but you wouldn't be in as much trouble as someone else, like Seth, would. It's kinda expected from you." Jacob said.

"True, he's way too happy go lucky." Paul said smirking.

Seth glared at Paul. Rachel smacked Paul up the side of his head. "Be nice to your brother." Paul pulled her into his arms and started kissing her passionately.

Jacob hid his face in my neck and mumbled, "I so don't need to see that."

I flicked a fireball at Paul's head, careful that it didn't burn either of them. They glanced over as I said, "Break it up."

"Thanks, honey," Jacob said, kissing my skin. The heat from his lips skittered down my spine.

"Anytime." I said smiling.

"Alright, Jared, Paul, you're on patrol. The rest of you, scram." Sam said. Most of the pack melted into the treeline, leaving the furniture as it was. Embry and Quil stayed a bit to talk with Jacob.

I was almost asleep when Jacob nudged me. "We should move inside."

I grunted and flicked King lightly, nodding my head at him. The three hounds got up off the bed quickly The aches prevented me from moving much so I just stuck out my hand to Jake. He chuckled as he pulled me up carefully. I whimpered once as Jacob tried to set me on my feet so he just picked me up instead. Embry and Quil grabbed the mattress, hauling it inside. Jacob followed quickly.

"Shirt," I mumbled as Embry and Quil left after getting the bed put back together.

"What?"

"Can't sleep in leathers." I struggled to say, still half asleep.

"Oh," Jacob said as he turned to find what I was asking for. I started taking off all my weapons and getting undressed. I think it was the sound of my vest that startled Jacob from what he was doing. He gasped when he turned around. I guess he wasn't expecting me to strip right there. I was too tired to care.

He held the shirt out and I grabbed it wordlessly and put it on. I slipped out of my pants and laid down in bed. He was still frozen in the middle of the room. Jacob startled into action when I croaked out, "Bed."

Jacob settled in next to me and his heat engulfed me. The sounds of our synced heartbeats lulled me to sleep.

XOX

Morning came earlier than I wanted, but it was the best morning of my life. I woke up surrounded by the scent and heat of Jacob. The comfort of his arms were not enticing me to get up. Jacob was on his back, his left arm around me, and I was cuddled up under it. My ear was over his heart, my left leg and left arm up over his chest. I realized he was already awake as he was tracing over the small scar from last night.

I lifted my head to look into his eyes. There was regret and pain there.

"Hey." I said, trying to break him from his thoughts.

"I didn't say it last night, but I meant to. I'm so sorry. I would never want to harm you. What I've already done to you has been horrible enough, but then to bite you?" Jacob trailed off still lost in his thoughts.

"Nuh-uh," I said, forcing him to look in my eyes. "You are not going to blame yourself for anything. First of all, you had a horrible thing torturing you when you asked me not to come back. I could see that it hurt you to do it. And last night, I knew there was a possibility of you hurting me physically. But here's the thing, Jake, you didn't hurt me because it was me. You hurt me because someone was holding onto you. Probably a little too tightly?"

"Yeah, that part I remember. I thought there was a leech on me." he admitted sheepishly.

"See, not really your fault. There is no forgiveness needed. I was just trying to hold on." I smiled and I finally got my favorite sunny smile back. "Come on, I'll make us breakfast."

"Uh, you might have to make more than normal." Jacob said sheepishly as I started pulling on my pants.

"Why?" I asked, heading to the door.

"Quil and Embry invited themselves over. I can hear them walking up." Jacob said as he followed me out, snagging a pair of shorts on his way.

"Great, I get to cook for the great garbage disposal and his two friends." I said on entering the kitchen.

"Hey, I resemble that remark!" Quil said from the back door. "What's for breakfast?"

"Pancakes, eggs, bacon." I said. Jacob growled as Embry stepped forward to give me a customary hug. Jacob pulled me back into his chest just before Embry and I embraced, snapping his teeth at Quil and Embry.

"Jake! Put me down." I squirmed a bit in his grip. He took a deep breath and set me down away from Embry and Quil. I turned to him and said. "Jake, I am going to hug Embry. I am going to hug everyone in the pack. I will even, on occasion, hug Quil." I could hear Embry snickering. "But this growling and going into possessive mode has got to stop."

"Sorry, I couldn't help myself." Jacob said sheepishly. "I think it's because it's new. You know I'm not normally like that."

"Well, you better get over it pretty quickly." I said. "How are you going to be able to handle it when I get in a fight?"

Jacob's arms tightened around me. "I have no idea. Maybe I could watch you and your dad training today?"

"No. I am not having an audience today." I shuddered at the thought.

"But it would just be me." Jacob pleaded. Embry and Quil both whined at the thought of being left out.

"No. I've never fought him, and I don't need anyone watching me get my ass handed to me." I said firmly. I moved away from him and started pulling things out for breakfast.

"Alright. Maybe tomorrow?" Jacob asked.

"Maybe. Don't know how it'll go. How bout I let you know?" I said mixing up batter for pancakes.

"Sure, sure." Jacob said as Embry edged in, trying to yet again hug me. Jacob didn't freak out this time, only sitting at the table calmly. Embry joined him as Quil walked up. He pinched me on the ass and I slapped the back of his head as he walked away.

"Damn, Bells, that hurt!" Quil protested as he rubbed his head.

"Just be grateful I didn't hit you at full strength, I'd be liable to crack open that hard skull. And stop pinching my ass. Jake might take a bite out of _you_ next time." I said, Jacob's growling filling the air. Quil sat down at the table as Billy rolled into the room.

"Hey, boys, Bella. You taking care of an old man and feeding him breakfast?" Billy asked.

I walked over and kissed him on the cheek. "Who else would I be making breakfast for?"

"Oh, I don't know, my son seems to like to eat." Billy said chuckling.

"I'll make sure he's taken care of." I said with a wink at Jacob. He grinned back at me.

"I'm sure you'll do that, Bella. Pretty sure you will." Billy said. "Your dad called a bit ago. Apparently he won't be able to make it to help you bury the spikes. The boys can watch out for you and work as transport. He said you two are still on for training at ten though. Apparently twenty-five years of unrequited love will take it out of an old man."

"TMI, Billy, TMI!" I grimaced as I flipped more pancakes. "Besides, that old man, is almost four times your age!"

"Doesn't make my statement any less true. He said we might be seeing a couple more wolves for breakfast." Billy said, just as Leah and Seth walked in the door.

"Boss lady, can we crash at your house if your dad keeps staying at mine? We ended up sleeping out in the woods last night." Leah said.

"Sure, but I have a feeling I'll be staying at yours if they're at the Forks house." I said while mixing up more pancake batter. The bacon was almost done and the first batch of pancakes were sitting in the oven keeping warm.

"Deal!" Seth said as he came over for a hug.

* * *

**Someone asked how old everyone is, so I tried to figure out how old everyone is relative to how old I made Bella (cause she was legal to buy beer in chapter 8)**

**If we are going according to Miss Meyer and it's late summer in 2009:**

**Sam, Rachel, Leah, Kim, Emily(?) - 22**

**Bella - 21 almost 22**

**Jacob, Embry, Quil, Paul, Jared - 19**

**Seth - 17**

**Brady, Collin - 15**

**But, I don't really like them at those ages, so in my world:**

**Gramps - 455**

**Charlie - 190**

**David - 85**

**Matthew - Undetermined**

**Sam, Emily, Leah - 23**

**Rachel, Kim, Paul, Jared-22**

**Bella - 21 almost 22**

**Jacob, Embry, Quil - 20**

**Seth - 17**

**Brady, Collin - 15**


	16. Chapter 16: Buried

**Hellhounds and Demons**

Chapter 16

Buried

"What's with Leah calling you boss lady?" Jacob asked.

"I offered her a job. She's going to pound metal with me." I answered.

"How's that going to work with patrolling?" Billy asked, a hard look on his face.

"We'll work around her schedule. I've only been working about four hours a day. That'll be plenty of time for her to learn this and make decent money." I said.

"She can't be off the reservation." Billy said as silence built in the kitchen.

"Bullshit. Sam's construction company takes jobs off the reservation." I argued. Why was Billy so adamant that Leah not work for me?

"Those are for specified times. We can't leave the reservation unprotected." Billy continued.

"Are you forgetting that I'm going to be building you the best defense your reservation has ever seen in about an hour?" I argued back.

"We don't know that yet. There's nothing proven until it actually works." Billy said.

"What do you want me to do, Billy? Call up some vampires and test the boundaries? 'Cause you know my in with the local leeches is gone now." I said starting to get angry.

"We're just supposed to trust in these mystical pieces of metal buried in the ground to keep out vampires?"

"No, Billy, you're supposed to trust _me_. Trust my dad. Trust my gramps. My family has been looking out for your tribe longer than you've been alive. And the only reason why we can actually do this is because of _me_. What's the real reason you don't want Leah working for me? Is it because you don't want what's best for the people in your tribe? You don't want them to succeed?" I asked heat flaring from my anger.

"Uh, Bells," I heard Seth say quietly.

"No, because I don't want her to move away from the reservation! I don't want her to decide that she's better off somewhere else. That she can make a better life for herself elsewhere. Like most of the young kids. Like my daughters. Like my wife."

I calmed down as I realized what this was all about. "Guys, Leah, go find something to do."

"But-" Quil started.

"OUT!" They went out the door quickly.

I walked over to where Billy was, and crouched down so that we were at eye level. "I am not going to take Jacob away from you, Billy. I will never leave him either. Why would I do something to hurt him, to make my heartbeat falter?"

"But you left. They always leave." The devastation in his eyes broke my heart.

"Billy, I am not going to die. I'm not going to let Jacob die either. Did you see what I did to put him back together? Just like he put me back together. We make each other stronger together than we ever are apart. What do I have to do to prove it to you?"

"Move to the rez." he said quietly. "Build your life here. Don't leave a poor, old man behind."

"Billy, you raised me just as much as my dad did. More, if his accounts of how he's been for the last twenty-five years are true. I've seen you as a second father figure for all of my life. I love you, Billy Black, and I love your son. I'm not going to go anywhere."

"Promise?" Hope brimmed in his eyes.

"On my sword." I could hear the metal singing with my promise. "But you have to give me land for a house and a workshop."

"Deal." Billy said, sticking his hand out to shake.

"Put that away." I said, pushing his hand to the side and wrapping my arms around him. I hugged him tight to me, relishing the strength of love he had for his family. "And Leah can come work for me?"

"Yes, as long as it doesn't interfere with her duties." He said with a sigh.

"Those duties are going to become pretty null and void soon." I said with a smile. "You know, if you wanted me to move down here, you could have just asked."

"And you would have just gone for it?"

"I would have moved here in a heartbeat if it meant I kept you and Jacob. Now where's my house going to be?" I said turning towards the stove. The charred mess that sat upon it was evidence of my anger. "I guess I'll replace that."

"I'm sure Jake can fix it." Billy said with a bit of doubt in his voice.

"Can Jake fix melted fixtures? Cause I think that's a bust." I said chuckling.

"Yeah, maybe not." He chuckled.

"_Is it safe to come in now?_" I heard Embry yell from the backyard.

"Yeah," I hollered out to them.

"Good," Quil said as he walked in followed by the others. "Cause I'm starving and Leah wouldn't let us eat without you." Each of them had quite a few to-go boxes from the diner. I guess they went and got breakfast.

We all got the food divided up and started eating. Jacob wouldn't let me sit anywhere but on his lap and the scraping of forks on plates was the only sound for a while. Jacob and I left to clean up and get dressed.

Jacob stopped me on my way to the bathroom. "I heard what you said to my dad. You would have really moved down here if he asked?"

I put my hand over his heart and said, "Do you feel that? Why would I want to be away from my heart? If this is where you're meant to be, then so am I."

"I love you, Bells." Jacob said pulling me tight.

"And I love you, Jake." I pecked him on the lips. "Now I'm going to shower and get ready. We've got things to do today." Jacob smacked my ass before letting me go.

We both got cleaned up and dressed, me back in my leathers and blades, Jacob in a pair of cutoffs, and met the others in the backyard. I was packing the spikes back into the rucksack Embry had originally brought them in. "Jake, you gonna phase and be my transportation?"

"Of course, I don't know if I would trust anyone else to do it without you falling off." Jacob said grinning at me.

"I'm not going to fall off. I did fine last night." I said.

"You've fallen off numerous things. Numerous times." He teased.

"Not in the last six months." I protested.

"Yeah, but you have about twenty-one years of proof to discredit." Jacob's grin got even bigger. He headed towards the treeline to phase.

I sent him a glare, knowing there wasn't much to say in my defense. The rucksack was packed and Embry swiped it from me. He was so quiet I hadn't even noticed his approach. Embry slung the bag over his shoulder and walked out into the forest.

Jacob came back out from the forest in wolf form. His coat had gotten shaggy, but it was still that beautiful russet color that I loved so much. There was a rolling grumble as he got close and I wrapped my arms around his neck, feeling the heat from his body seep into mine. I scratched behind his ears for a bit and something closely resembling a purr came from deep in his chest. "Jake, are you purring?"

He sniffed once, and rolled his eyes. Jacob flopped down on the ground so that I could climb up on him. I yet again wrapped my arms around his neck. "We should start at the ones close to the north side of the beach and make our way around the reservation until we hit the south side. I want to bury the one in the ocean off of First Beach first. Less possibility of being seen since that's the only one with public access. Do you remember the map my dad drew last night?"

He yipped once at me.

"Then you know where we need to go. Giddyup!" I couldn't stop myself from letting that out.

Jacob bounced once a little harder than normal and I tightened my legs on him. I let up when he let out a pitiful little whine.

"Do you want me to hold on or fall off? Geez, Jake, make up your mind." I said sarcastically.

The trip was quick, but that's what always seems to happen when on wolf back. Quil and Leah were nipping at each other's heels every once in awhile, just enjoying a stress free run. The beach was quiet and empty as we stood on the cliffs.

I grabbed the first spike after Jacob let me off his back. The lighter was out and sparked and the fire was spinning just like last night. I closed my eyes trying to feel exactly what the spike wanted to have happen. The humming grew fainter and fainter and I concentrated harder. My eyes popped open when all of a sudden there was a loud shriek from the metal and a large plume of steam was coming up from the ocean.

I turned to Jacob, who was kind of in shock and tapped him on the shoulder. He turned to me and I made the dog hand signal for lay down and he did. I climbed back on and patted him on the head saying, "Good boy."

Jacob growled at me and Embry, Quil and Leah yipped, probably giving Jacob a hard time. We took off and I continued to bury the spikes. After the second spike was sunk into the ground, Seth joined us. On our way to the fifth, Jared and Paul showed up. By the tenth spike, the entire pack was together, some jostling Jacob and I. There was a feeling of celebration, that this was the last time that they would have to run the border with fear that any vampire could hurt one of the residents.

The last spike I had to embed was out in the ocean again, but along the southern edge. We were once again on the cliffs, since it was where I felt I had to be. The metal whispered that that was where I had to be, so I was. As soon as it was driven beneath the surface, the entire pack howled, many of them butting up against each other, winding in and out of each other. In that moment I felt all the spikes sing out, connecting to each other and then lowering down to a gentle hum in the back of my head. Not annoying, just a feeling of security, warmth, and devotion.

All of the pack members brushed up against my legs before trotting off to wherever they came from. Embry, Quil, and Leah stayed, as we made our way back to Jacob's house. Exhaustion pressed down on me and my eyelids were drooping by the time we got back. I shakily got down off of Jacob's back and he caught me up in his arms.

The five of us settled in the living room and Quil turned on the tv. I barely managed to murmur to Jacob, "I need to leave by nine thirty, don't let me oversleep." before falling asleep safe in his arms.

XOX

I woke up to the smell of food. The tv was off and I checked the clock. Eleven thirty. _Shit_! I was late. I sat up quickly, a bit of dizziness hitting me quickly and then passing. I made my way into the kitchen, seeing Jacob at the microwave.

"Jake, I'm late!" I said nearly panicking.

"Relax, I called your dad." he said pulling me into his arms. "He said to let you sleep and let him know when you got up. Have some lunch, and then I'll run you up there."

I quickly chowed down on what Jacob put in front of me, not paying attention to what I ate.

"Damn, Bells, trying to do your impression of a werewolf?" he teased.

"I'm late, Jake, and Dad might just hand me my ass on a plate for that." I said.

"Bells, I'm pretty sure your dad's not going to hurt you."

"Tell me that when I'm bruised this afternoon." I said.

His whole body tensed. "You sure you don't want me there?"

"No, Babe, I'll be fine. You can come tomorrow if you really want to." I watched as an entirely goofy smile overtook his face. "What is that about."

"What?" Jacob asked.

"Your goofy grinning face." I said, pointing at his face.

"You called me babe." He said, goofy smile still intact.

"Oh, well, sweetie, sugarpie, honeybunch, you just have to get used to hearing that." I said a smile lacing my words.

"I think I can handle that." Jacob said, leaning over to give me a kiss.

I quickly slapped his chest. "No distractions, mister. I've got a demon to fight."

We both chuckled and cleaned up the dishes. Jacob called my dad and we left for the clearing. Dad was there with the hounds and cats. I kissed Jacob quickly and he left.

"Your hellhounds are a nuisance." Dad said.

"Why?" I asked confused. All three of them were jumping up on me trying to lick my face. "They're pretty good for me."

"That's because they're your familiars, not mine. They came over this morning begging for food. Demon kept getting into fights with Nico and Demus. Brimstone kept farting all morning. And King ignored any commands I gave him. Just did whatever he wanted."

"Sorry dad. They ran off last night, I figured they would come back here. Not find you."

"Well, as long as you feed them instead of letting them beg off of me, I don't mind keeping them every once in awhile."

"Uh dad, I fed them last night. And they have access to food here. The only reason why they would beg is if they know you're a soft touch. And don't feed Brimstone dairy. That's why he stinks." I said giggling towards the end. My boys could trick my dad!

"I'll show you a soft touch. Did you bring your spikes?" Dad asked.

"Yup, but I just brought the one. They whispered that they had a different purpose. It's yet to be decided."

"Alright let's get it buried." We walked to half way between the house and the workshop and buried it there. It took nearly no time or effort with Dad's help. I realized then that I wouldn't have needed a nap if I hadn't done all of them by myself.

"So, how's Sue?" I asked fishing for information.

"Good. Great. Never been better. I'm moving in to her house." He said a grin on his face.

"That's quick." I said shocked.

"Just as quick as you'll probably move on to the reservation, too." he said with an eyebrow waggle.

"In that case, do you mind if Leah and Seth have the Forks house? Leah said that she had to sleep out in the woods last night. Something about hearing their mom, or something along those lines." I said teasingly with a waggle to my eyebrows.

Dad's face turned red. "Yeah, they can use the house. Guess we don't need the remodel?"

"I'm sure Leah would appreciate not having to share a bathroom with her little brother." I answered.

"Yeah, that does make sense. Now, training." Dad said. The familiars were in a very large circle anticipating watching us fight. My boys had gotten used to watching from the sidelines unless called in. "This is going to be just you and me. We'll get to fighting with familiars another time. We're going to do hand to hand first, then hand to hand in rage. After that we'll get to swordwork. This is basically just me seeing where you're at and what you need work on. You ready?"

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**You guys all rock! Thanks for the reviews. Who wants a second chapter for today?**


	17. Chapter 17: Training

**Hellhounds and Demons**

Chapter 17

Training

Seeing how I didn't really have a choice, I got in a comfortable fighting stance and nodded my head. What seemed like five seconds later, I was staring up at the sky, my ass put down quick. Dad's fighting style was a lot different than Gramps', David's or Matthew's. I knew that there would have to be some adjustment, but I didn't think he would take me out that quick.

"You breathing there, kid?" Dad asked.

"Yeah." I groaned as I got up. I was ready so we started again. This time I was more prepared. Dad was a brawler and hit hard. David had taught me a martial arts style which was more about avoiding blows and pushing the energy away.

We got into it, mostly me avoiding Dad's blows, and getting a couple of good hits in. He took a kick to the knee that would have had me on the ground. Dad hit harder, but I just moved faster. Smaller stature gave me somewhat of an advantage but not much.

I was leaned over, trying to catch my breath after a particularly vicious blow to the solar plexus, when Dad indicated that he wanted to move into rage state. I kinda thought this was unfair, since he was going to have an even greater advantage over me. Sure I was stronger in this form, but so was he. Dad was also bigger. His arms had a longer reach, so I was dancing away from him even further every time.

I felt like I was avoiding and defending much more than taking the offensive. Finally, I got one good swipe with my claws down his right arm. It hampered him for a bit and I took advantage. He healed quickly and I was back on the defensive.

Dad called a halt to the massive beatdown it had started to become. We took a small break to get our energy back. Well, my energy back since Dad was barely winded.

"Alright now, Bells, you've done good. Far better than I expected. Now on this last bit, don't hold anything back." Dad said.

"You sure?" I asked. It had been awhile since anyone had gotten the beat me at swords one on one. Usually David and Matthew had to work together to take me out by themselves. But I had a feeling Dad wouldn't be expecting that.

"Yeah, Bells, bring it on." I unsheathed my sword and watched as he pulled out his. I immediately felt his sword humming, whispering to me every once in awhile.

Dad signalled to fight, we crossed swords three times before I had his sword in my left hand and my sword pointed at his throat.

"Beginner's luck?" I suggested, handing the sword back to him.

I tried to hold it back a bit, ignore the whispers a bit more and the fight lasted a little longer, but soon we were back to both swords in my hands.

He looked at me with a raised eyebrow, and stuck his hand out for his sword again. We both took fighting stances. The metal sang to me as they hit, over and over. I slowed down, trying to make it seem like I was really working for it. Dad had his pride and I didn't want to beat it down.

Dad stopped in the middle of the fight, I barely stopped myself from slicing open his arm. "You're just playing with me aren't you?"

"Not really?" The statement came out as more of a question.

"How often do you fight one on one with swords?"

"Not for the last two months." I said as Dad's eyebrows raised. "Usually it takes Gramps, David, and Matthew to bring me down alone. Every once in awhile David and Matthew can manage it by themselves. We've been working on my hand to hand lately since it's where I'm weakest."

"And, that boys and girl, is why Bella is going to fight with you against the vamps." Dad said in a slightly louder tone looking over my shoulder.

I whirled around and the entire pack was standing just outside the treeline. I put the sword behind my back as embarrassment flooded through me. "Um, dad?"

"I told Sam to bring the pack. They needed to see how you fight." Dad said.

"How much did you see?" I said staring at the ground.

"All of it." Sam said. "We were a bit worried when your dad put you on your ass so quickly."

"Worried, ha," Quil piped up, "we had our hands full trying to keep Jake from tearing your dad's head off." I glanced up at Jacob from underneath my lashes. He looked like he was still straining to get to me. Jacob was whining softly.

"Alright, Jake, you can go." Sam said, releasing the alpha order Sam must have had on him. Jacob burst into a full out sprint and swept me into his arms, running off into the woods with me. When Jacob came to a stop, he set me down and ran his hands over my entire body, checking for injuries.

I put a hand to his face and said, "Jake, I'm okay. No major injuries, just a bit of soreness and the ache that comes from a really good workout. I was being honest when I said I was weak in hand to hand."

Jacob's hands stopped frantically running over my body and became more of a sensuous caress. "You sure?"

"I've had worse injuries than that before. Besides, I heal almost as quickly as you do." I said.

"Then why did your dad do that thing with me licking you and then burning the bite?"

"No clue. I guess we'll have to ask him." I said. "I thought you promised me you wouldn't come to watch today."

"I told Sam, but he said it was a mandatory pack meeting." Jacob said giving me his best puppy dog eyes.

"Well, I guess that's good. Now I have nothing to be nervous about." I said pulling him down for a kiss.

Heat flared up from the points of contact. His lips were hot and soft and tasted like pure Jacob sunshine. He nibbled my lips as he pulled me in closer to him. I gasped as he lifted me up to his level, easily supporting me with an arm underneath my ass. Jacob took advantage of my open mouth, snaking a tongue in to rub against mine. The heat intensified and I pulled him closer to me, wrapping my arms around his neck, one hand going into his short hair. It almost felt as if the fire was dancing along my skin as it had last night. Jacob slowed the kiss, leaving me with a few small pecks before letting me down out of his arms.

I was a little dazed as he turned me around and pushed me back towards the clearing. Jake's warm hand in mine was the only thing I was entirely certain of as I tried to clear my head of the kiss induced haziness.

"Feel better, Jake?" Dad smirked at the two of us.

"Yup." Jacob answered.

"Alright folks," Sam interrupted. "We've got a bonfire to get ready for. Sir, should we be expecting you?"

"The name's Charlie. Considering how much I'm trusting you with my baby girl, I think we can be on a first name basis." Dad said his gaze wandering over the entire pack. "And yeah, Sue mentioned something about it this morning."

Leah and Seth had a look on their faces as if they smelled something rotten. Dad saw and spoke up, "You two have a problem with me and your mom?"

"No, we like that idea." Leah said, speaking for the both of them. "In theory. The practice of it is what we don't want to hear about so much."

"I'm sure you'll get used to it." Dad said with a cheeky smile.

"Or not." Seth mumbled as the pack started walking away. Leah and Jacob stayed in the clearing.

I walked over to Dad, kissed him on the cheek and said. "Bye, Dad. See ya tonight."

"Bye Bells." he replied heading towards the workshop.

"Leah, you're going to help me get ready for tonight right?" I asked confirming plans we had made yesterday. The three of us walked towards the house.

"Yeah, I take it I can't convince you to wear anything but your leathers?" She asked.

"You're not getting me out of these until we take care of Icky Vicky." I said firmly as we walked out of the treeline and towards the house.

"Alright then, this is where I take my leave of the conversation." Jacob said, dropping a kiss to my lips and trotting back to the trees. I could still feel the tingles from where his lips had been.

"Damn, you've got it bad girl!" Leah said as we walked in the house.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you. Dad's having this place remodelled. There will eventually be two bathrooms." I said as we walked up the stairs.

"Great, but what does that have to do with me?" she said.

"The whole, crash at my place when my dad's at your house?" I reminded her.

"Oh, yeah, that's great!" she said excitedly. "Now, let's look at your shoes."

I laughed as we did all the girly things the guys had nightmares about. She picked out what color top I would be wearing. I insisted I be able to cover my wrist holsters and she decided on a dark plum color that apparently made my eyes 'sparkle'. Leah went through my closet and found a pair of older boots that she declared decent. They were flat, since that was about all I could wear, and had large silver buckles running up the side. She looked at the other leathers that I had and found a pair of pants that had some silver colored leather inset into some of the seams, accenting my curves. They were very tight in the leg so I could tuck them into the tops of the boots. The matching top for it was halter style so my shoulders were completely free of leather except for where my scabbard was. We then left for her house, grabbing the duffle bags I hadn't even bothered to unpack.

Leah and I sang along to the oldies on the radio and our trip down to La Push seemed to go by quickly. We had about an hour to kill till we had to be at the bonfire, so Leah took her time, trying on a couple of outfits. Leah looked to me for an opinion, and we settled on a pair of painted on jeans and a turquoise top which made her skin glow. There was hardly anything to the back and the front was cut low enough to show off quite a bit of cleavage.

Leah did her makeup quickly, and then ambushed me, making me sit at the edge of the bed and attacking me with brushes. I could have gotten away from her at any time, and she knew it. She also knew that I loved the way she did my makeup. It always looked really natural and made me feel beautiful.

All the while, we were discussing job details such as when, where, her job duties and other things. The where was going to be interesting since for now, we would work out of the workshop in Forks. We would move down to La Push when we got the workshop there up and running. Billy promised me land, and I was going to take full advantage of it. Leah had asked if this was something she could go to college for. I told her that she could. A few of the colleges offered it, but she would learn more from working with me. It wasn't so much a job that a lot of people went to college for. If you had it, you had it. If you didn't, you didn't.

The whole college issue got me thinking though. I wondered if I could work up something like what Gramps had. He worked in partnership with the local college and people came to his workshop to learn from him. They earned school credits and paid a lot of money to come work for him, on top of their school fees. I would be willing to offer the classes for free to anyone on the rez, but I was pretty sure I could get something worked out with the University of Washington in Tacoma. I'd have to call Gramps and talk to Billy before going any further.

Leah snapped me out of my thoughts with a quick, "We're late!"

We went downstairs and grabbed the stuff Sue had left knowing that we would bring it with us.

The beach was pretty filled and the fire was going strong. Almost the whole tribe was there. Leah and I added the food we brought to the already full tables. I turned and looked out at the sea of people looking for the one person I had been missing. Jacob was easily spotted due to his height and I made a beeline towards him. I was stopped by a voice saying, "Bella? Bella Swan?"

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**Hmm…. I wonder who that could be? Any guesses?**


	18. Chapter 18: Bonfire

**Hellhounds and Demons**

Chapter 18

Bonfire

Leah continued on into the crowd as I turned to the voice. I saw Angela Weber standing there. "Angela? What are you doing here?" I asked before pulling her into a hug. The secret is still going to be kept a secret I guess. I pulled her along with me as I headed for Jacob.

"It was really weird. I was at the grocery store when some guy walked by, I think he said his name was Quil? He turned around and said he remembered that I was friends with you. Told me that you had come home and there was a bonfire tonight and that I should come. I'm so glad you're here!"

"I'm glad to be here too! I'm glad you came!" I said.

"I feel kind of awkward though." Angela said. "You're the only one I really know, well, besides Lauren."

"Lauren Mallory?" I asked. _Ugh._

"Yeah, she was lurking about when Quil invited me and finagled an invite, too. She mentioned something about a hot guy she had met here years ago that she wanted to get her 'claws into'." Angela did the little finger air quotes.

I smelt a faint whiff of sickly sweet scent as we got closer to where the pack was hanging out. The metal on my body started to hum the closer we got.

"That's weird. Did she say who it was so we can warn the poor bastard?" I asked.

"I don't remember the first name but she said something like LaHottie for his last name." Angela answered.

"Lahote? Paul Lahote? That bitch better stay away from him. He's happily dating Rachel Black." We got close to the pack. Jacob spotted us and headed over to us, smiling. There were whispers from some of the daggers that I had made. I had no idea why they were whispering now, but I would follow my instinct.

Jacob walked up to us looking to die for. I wasn't sure if I liked him best shirtless so that I could see his rippling muscles, or in a shirt as tight as the black one he had on now. It molded to every curving bulge leaving nothing to the imagination. His low slung jeans were in a dark wash which helped him blend into the shadows. Heat pooled below my stomach as I watched him walk towards us with a smirk on his face that told me he knew all about my reaction to him. Jacob pulled me into his arms and the kiss he dropped on top of my head, had warmth tingling down my spine. Our hearts synced and all the tension eased. "Hey, honey." he said.

"Ang, this is my boyfriend, Jacob Black." I introduced. "Jake, this is my friend from High School, Angela Weber."

"Nice to meet you, Angela." Jacob said, a welcoming smile on his face.

"Nice to meet you, too. I think we met a few years ago. I'm not really sure."

"Yeah, now that I think about it, you and a group of people used to come down to the beach in the summertime when we were in high school." Jacob said.

"Ang, what are you up to now?" I asked.

"I just finished up my Bachelors and am going to get my teaching credential over the summer. The bulk of it's done, I just have to do a little bit more student teaching."

"Are you trying to get into Forks High?" I asked.

"They don't have any openings right now." Angela responded.

"I think the rez school has an open spot." Jacob suggested. "One of the teachers retired last year and they didn't have anyone lined up to replace him. You could try there."

"Thanks, Jacob. That sounds perfect!" Angela said.

The whispers grew louder and I felt an arm bump into me on the opposite side of where Jacob was. I looked over and Embry was standing there offering me a drink.

"Ang, have you ever met Embry?" I asked looking over at her before taking a sip from the cup. She shook her head and looked over at him.

"Ang, Embry, Embry, Ang." I said. The lack of sound and movement drew my gaze back to Embry and he was doing that whole dumbfounded look that all the guys do when they imprint. I had only seen it once when Paul imprinted on Rachel, but I had been told it looks the same from wolf to wolf.

Nudging Embry with my elbow, I startled him out of his trance. "It's nice to meet you. Very nice. Would you like to go get some food? They just announced that everything's ready."

She nodded and he grabbed her hand, snaking their way through the crowds towards the tables.

"Well that's one theory shot down." Jacob said.

"Huh?" I asked.

"The elders had a theory that we couldn't imprint on non-Native Americans. Guess that's wrong unless Angela's Native American?" he asked.

"Not that I know of. And wasn't that theory toast when you imprinted on me? I'm not even human." I said with a laugh.

"Oh, yeah. Guess I never thought about it since it's you. You're like an honorary member of the tribe or something." Jacob said.

I rolled my eyes. "I heard that Lauren Mallory is here tonight?"

"Yeah, her and Angela are the only ones not in the tribe, so we'll just have to wait until Lauren leaves since Angela's an imprint. Guess she'll see how different we all are sooner than normal."

"You guys have a plan?" I asked as we started towards where the other members of the pack were hanging out. That sickly sweet smell was back and a little stronger. It reminded me of something but I couldn't think of what it was.

"Rachel and Paul are going to fake an argument. Rachel's happy to contribute to the cause as she called it." Jake said smiling.

"Well as long as she's happy." We found the rest of the pack and I spotted Lauren Mallory over by Paul and Rachel. Paul looked like he was using Rachel as a shield against Lauren. He had Rachel in front of him with his arms wrapped around her.

The scent got stronger. "Do you smell that?"

"Smell what?" Jacob said.

"It's kinda like leech, except for no bleach smell." I said.

He sniffed a couple of times, then answered. "No I don't."

All the hair on the back of my neck stood up. The metal on my skin screeched an alarm. I scanned the crowd and noticed Dad was hustling his way over. I sought out the scent that started to burn my nose realizing where it was coming from.

"Bells." I heard my dad say and felt his sword arching through the air at me. I caught it as I was pulling my own out of its scabbard and pointed them at the source of the stench.

"Lauren Mallory." I said through clenched teeth. She turned to me and I lunged at her crossing the swords close to the pommel, the lengths close to the opposite sides of her neck. Rage pooled in my gut and out of the corner of my eye, I saw my dad growing in size. "What are you doing here?"

"I heard from a friend that the rez was a great place to find a man." She said, an unholy gleam in her eyes.

The crowds closed in towards us so I pulled a stream of fire from the bonfire and wrapped it around the two of us shoulder height to keep us isolated.

"And who would this friend be?" I said, knowing exactly who she was talking about.

"Her name was Mina. Great girl. Went missing two weeks ago I think." her smile turned evil. All of the pack were growling at the news. I heard snarling from Jacob.

"Dad?" I asked for confirmation.

"She is, follow your instincts." he reassured me. His hand was on his gun and he was at full size.

"And who were you trying to get your claws into now? One of my friends? One of my pack?" I asked, my tone deadly.

The growling got louder and I could hear the roars and howls from the familiars as they closed in.

"She just told me of the plentiful opportunities to be had here." Lauren said. She was strangely calm for someone who had two swords on either side of her neck.

"And tell me why I shouldn't lop of your head and burn your body?" The heat of my rage overtook any coldness I felt from remembering the sick sadistic bitch.

"Because I've already got my claws, as you say, in one of your _pack_." I felt as well as heard a couple of members of the pack phase. Guess Paul isn't going to have to take the fall for this one.

The metal whispered to me, hissing in it's insistence. "You lie."

I pulled the swords together, decapitating her cleanly. The fire closed in and made a full column of fire. Nothing but me in the center, as she burned to ash quickly.

I let the fire dissipate into the air and Jacob was pushing me towards the outside of the crowd, then facing the crowd. I looked around and the same was happening with the other wolves with their imprints. There was a large space between the crowd and the line of wolves and the not-yet-imprinted wolves filled in the space between. Embry and Angela were furthest away from everyone else. She looked a little confused but not freaked out like I thought she would be. Her hand was buried deep in Embry's fur, looking like she was holding on for dear life.

Billy spoke up and the growls reduced so he could be heard. "My tribe, I know the stories we speak of are filled with legends and impossible to believe things. One of those impossible to believe things you have all been a witness to tonight. The wolf protector legends are true, which is evidenced by some of our boys as you can see."

"But what about the cold ones? Are those legends true, too?" Someone yelled out from the crowd.

"Yes, they are true." Billy answered and gasps were heard from the crowd. "But that is what these boys protect us from. So you have no reason to fear."

"What if one slips through? What happens then?"

"I can tell you without a doubt that there is no way that any vampires can get on the reservation." Billy answered with pride in his tone.

"How do you know this?" Someone else asked.

"Because the legends also foretold of a mate of a wolf." Old Quil spoke up. "A mate of a wolf that would keep La Push safe without need for a pack. A mate that would call her wolf Beloved."

I gasped, gripping onto Jacob as my knees felt weak. Jacob whined and nudged me a bit.

"I guess I never saw that coming." Dad said.

Chuckles from the other imprints broke out. I tossed his sword back to him and he deftly caught it.

"How? How is that little girl going to keep La Push safe?" Jacob's growls grew louder.

"Through fire, blood, and metal." I said strongly. I broke thirteen fireballs and they flew out and hovered over where the spikes were buried in the ground. "These are where the Boundary Markers that repel vampires are buried outside of your lands. They'll cover another quarter mile radius beyond that. They will never corrode. They will never fail."

"How do we know this?" Someone else asked.

"We know this because we trust our legends." Billy answered. "We trust that the pack has been there to save us. To protect us."

"And will continue to protect you." Charlie chimed in. He had lost the height and claws, looking like they all expected him to. "Shapeshifter blood runs through your veins. These boys had no choice, but those that continue on will be given the option. Something that I think you will come to appreciate in the following generations."

"Everyone, we will have a tribe meeting later on in the week to answer all your questions and concerns, but tonight was intended for celebration. Let us continue our celebration." Billy said. People turned and started talking amongst themselves. Someone turned on a radio and that added to the noise.

Sue approached with a basket, obviously filled with clothes. All of the pack gravitated towards her, and she started throwing shorts out at them. Jacob whined at my dad, nudging me towards Dad with his big wolfy head.

"Go, I'll keep them safe." Dad said.


	19. Chapter 19: Tribe

**Meant to get this out yesterday, sorry for the lateness!**

**Just in case, I don't own.**

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**Hellhounds and Demons**

Chapter 19

Tribe

Rachel, Kim, Emily, and Angela came over towards where I was standing with Dad. Angela hugged me tightly, shaking a bit.

"Did you get to eat?" I asked Angela. She nodded yes.

"You alright?" I asked. Angela nodded again.

"Are you in shock?" I asked.

"I think so." Angela whispered. Sue set off towards the tables.

"Did Embry get a chance to explain anything?" I asked.

"Not really?" Angela whispered again.

"Dad, can we get her some punch? Angela looks a little overwhelmed." I asked.

"Sue's a step ahead of you, Bells." Dad said, pointing to Sue who was on her way back with a cup in hand. Sue gave it to Angela and then took her pulse. Angela started sipping the drink and some color came back into her face. Embry jogged up and led Angela to the edge of our group, hopefully to explain some more.

"Angela's going to be fine. We'll just keep an eye on her for the next half hour or so." Sue said while leaning into my dad's embrace. The happiness that radiated off of the two of them filled my heart. There was a pounding in my chest as my heartbeat synced with Dad and Sue. I was startled at first since I didn't know it could happen when I was only a step away from the two of them. The heat and rhythm became more sure as I felt Jacob walking up behind us.

"That is so weird." Jacob said as he wrapped his arms around me. I leaned back into his embrace, soaking up the heat. I rolled my shoulders, as an itch started in between my shoulder blades.

Seth and Leah joined us. Their heartbeats synced up as well, adding their heat to Jacob's. We were in a strange little huddle, our little family. Metal whispered to me and I called Billy, Paul and Rachel over as well. As our circle got a little larger, I could feel the heat dancing along my skin.

Metal whispered again coming from along my own skin. I pulled out two blades, hit them against each other, and instead of producing sparks, fire balls lit quickly and faded to the sky. Dad called one of them to him before it dissipated in the night sky. When the fireballs first lit, almost everyone took a step back releasing the heat.

"Cool! You guys are like my own lighter!" I chortled with glee. All the wolves were confused, Dad was studying the fireball, and Sue and Billy just looked on in their I-know-more-than-you-do way.

"What the hell was that little Swan?" Paul asked, the circle loosening, as more members of the pack joined. Some of the parents of the pack were sticking close as well. Embry's mom was hovering near to him and Angela, tears filling her eyes.

"K so you've seen me playing with fire right?" I asked as almost all of the pack nodded their heads. Some of the parents were in shock, staring at Dad as he manipulated the fire, testing it before letting it fade away. "I can't make it from nothing, so I usually always have a lighter on me.

"The thing about us," I indicated my dad and I, "is when we find our Beloved our hearts beat in sync. Mine beats in sync with Jake's, Dad's beats in sync with Sue. This also happens between parent and child. When I stood next to Dad and Sue, I felt them sync up. When Jake joined us, heat came with it. Leah and Seth added to it since they're my dad's Beloved's children. It was almost hot enough for me to feel the flames. When Billy, Rachel and Paul came over the temperature was hot enough, I just needed a spark."

"Is that going to happen all the time?" asked Seth.

"Just when you get about a foot away." Dad said. "Eventually, it'll become more like white noise, where you don't really register it."

"Can't wait for that to happen," Paul said while rubbing his chest. "That was weird."

Chuckles were heard from around the circle.

"I have a question," Dad stated. "why do you boys shift without your clothes. Your parents must be spending a fortune to be constantly replacing them."

"It's possible to shift _with_ your clothes?" Jacob asked.

"Yeah, that's how all the other shapeshifters I've met have done it." Dad replied.

"We can't." Sam said.

"How do you know unless you've tried?" Dad asked.

"We have. It doesn't work that way." Sam replied.

"Who taught you how to shift?"

"Sam," was the chorused answer.

"And who taught you?" Dad said turning to Sam.

"No one. I taught myself." Sam said a little defensive. "The journals the elders gave me didn't include shapeshifting 101. It was more about what the previous packs did, not how they did it."

"You did real good, son." Dad said easing the tension. "Instincts can take you far in this world when you don't have anyone else to guide you. But if you want I can teach you easier and more effective ways. That way you can pass it down to the next generations who shift after you."

"We should probably write it down, too. In case there's a lull in packs again?" Seth suggested.

"How do you know so much about shapeshifting?" Sam asked still skeptical.

"Been around. You're not the only tribe with shapeshifting in their blood. The S'Klallam tribe is one that has a history of shapeshifting. I'm not sure if they're still shifting or not, since you shapeshifters tend to keep to yourselves." Chuckles broke out from around the circle.

The pack circle broke up and wandered out into the crowd, socializing with everyone else. I was happy to see that there was no fear or rejection on the faces of the other tribe members. It seemed like the rest of the tribe was accepting of this turn of events in spite of the early skepticism.

Billy, Dad, Sue, Jacob and I were the only ones left standing together. Dad and I didn't want to tip the fragile balance by immersing ourselves in the rest of the crowds. Jacob was using my head as a chin rest as he had me wrapped up in his arms. The itch between my shoulder blades got a little worse and I twitched a little. I tamped it down, trying to ignore it.

I turned to Dad and asked, "Training me, training the pack, moving to the rez. When are you going to find time to do it all?"

"I'm retiring from the force." The shock rippled through our little circle when my dad said this. "I qualify for early retirement, and since I know you probably already have some scheme worked out to get a workshop down here, I figured I'd help you get that started. You finagle land out of Billy yet?"

"Sort of. I was going to run an idea by Gramps first, but since you would know just as much about it, I guess I'll just ask. This would be something for the elders to consider as well. I want to build two workshops. Now hear me out," I said as both Dad and Billy started to interrupt. "I want to build a small workshop behind Billy's house. I would like to propose that we build a larger workshop closer to the resort. The purpose would be this.

"Gramps' has a deal with the University of Montana." I continued. "He charges a pretty hefty price to have classes on metalsmithing run out of his workshop. I figured we could offer a similar deal to the University of Washington in Tacoma. Except a bit different since it is so much farther away. We could do weekend and week long workshops during the off-season. This way the Resort would profit from the influx of people coming in and you'd be making money off of the classes as well. Since you are providing the land, I would want seventy five percent of the profit from the classes going to the tribe, and twenty five percent going to the teacher. All classes would be offered to any tribe members free of charge. I will invest the necessary capital to start building and the initial supplies needed. All you would have to supply is the land."

Jacob squeezed me tightly to him, his lips pressing into the top of my head. The adults were silent for a moment, the shock written on Sue and Billy's faces.

"Why would anyone want to come all the way out here to learn metalsmithing?" Billy asked when he finally got his thoughts together.

"You'd be surprised at how good Bella is at weaponsmithing. She has quite a few pieces in museums. Bella already has a reputation in the artworld as being a superb craftsman and I'm sure the University would love to take advantage of that." Dad said, causing me to blush.

Billy turned to my dad and asked, "Do you think this is something worth pursuing?"

"I think it would be a good source of income for the tribe. I know that Bella is already planning for Leah to apprentice, and it would mean that by the time it's started up, there would be three teachers already. By then, Leah would know enough about the basics that she could teach that, while Bells would teach the more advanced topics. I would be willing to teach the Intermediate classes. About a year from now, you would start to see a profit."

"I'll have to confer with the rest of the tribal council. But from what you've told me, I don't think they'd have any objections to this plan."

"I'll ask Paul to run some numbers for it before your meeting. That way you have a clearer picture of what this will mean." I said.

"Sounds good, Bella. I'm going to go eat and think about this some more." Billy said, heading off towards the food.

Jacob pulled me away from my dad and Sue before asking. "Why do you want a small workshop behind the house?"

"I need a place to do work where I don't have to worry about the wrong people watching. There are some things that I do that are a bit too Demon for anyone else to see."

"But why would you build it behind my dad's house. Didn't dad promise you land for a house of our own? How do you know it won't be on the other side of the rez?"

"Think about it Jake, do you really want to leave your dad's place? Cause at the moment, I can't see us living anywhere else."

"We hadn't really talked about that. I figured it would be a while yet before the pack and I could build the house and then we'd move in."

"Where my heartbeat goes, I go." I said to him resting my hand on his chest. "Besides, I'm not really giving you an option. I'm moving in tonight."

"Really?" he asked incredulous.

"Yup, have a couple of bags in the truck." I answered.

"I thought you would want to date first or something." Jacob said.

"Dating is for people who don't know each other. You and I know almost everything there is about each other. Why spend time torturing ourselves with distance when we know who we are individually. I want to learn who we can be together." I pulled his head down and kissed him. Tingles shot from the top of my head to the tips of my toes as he instantly deepened the kiss. He pulled back before I wanted him to, raising on my tiptoes to try and prolong it.

"You sure?" He asked resting his forehead against mine.

"As my heartbeat." I answered. "One request, though? You think you can convince Billy to remodel? Your room's tiny." I asked as Jacob chuckled.

"Anything for you, Bells. Anything." Jacob said with heat in his eyes. He howled up into the sky and howls from the rest of the pack echoed his jubilation. Jacob grabbed my hand and immediately started moving towards where my dad and Sue were standing on the edge of the crowd.

Jacob slowed down as we got closer and approached my dad, "Sir, I probably should have asked you this before, but I would like permission to date your daughter."

"Charlie, my name is Charlie, Jake. Always has been for you. And isn't it a little late to be asking to date her? I'm pretty sure she's already planning to move in with you."

"Yeah, kinda." Jake said, his hand wrapping around the back of his neck, rubbing it nervously.

"Son, I understand very much what an imprint means. You've had my approval for most of your life. I also understand that you want to be respectful. And that is much appreciated. But anything that has to do with your relationship with my daughter is very much in your hands now. I trust you to take care of her better than anyone else. When you guys decide to get married, just tell me when and where, no need for my blessing. You already have that." Dad said, pulling Jacob in for a hug. They held it for a moment and then quickly grabbed up me and Sue, their 'emotional' moment quickly over.

"So, Bells, you moving in with Jake soon?" Dad asked me.

"Oh, just tonight." I said nonchalantly as Jacob's face turned red. Huh, I didn't know he could do that.

My dad chuckled and slapped Jacob on the back. "Demons have a tendency to act quickly when they know what they want."

* * *

**There was a question about what was up with Lauren. On reading back through the chapter, I realized it might not have been so clear, but she was an Empousa like Mina. In going back and trying to figure out how to make that more clear, I had no clue. So rather than re-writing and re-posting, I'm giving you an AN to clear it up...**

**Thanks! **


	20. Chapter 20: Fireworks

**Hellhounds and Demons**

Chapter 20

Fireworks

A little girl no older than five, broke away from the crowd and headed towards us. She had what I assumed was her little brother's hand in her own as she pulled him along. She was cute as a button, her two little braids swinging in her bouncing excitement. She sidled up to my dad and pulled on his pant leg. My dad crouched down to her height and said, "Yes?"

"Excuse me, Mr. Chief Sir, I have a question." She said. The earnestness on her face and the care my dad seemed to have for the little sprite warmed my heart.

"What can I help you with?" my dad asked.

"I saw you playing with the fire earlier, Mr. Chief Sir. Can you make it go up in the sky and go boom?" she asked.

"You want to see some fireworks?" Dad asked.

"Yes, sir, Mr. Chief Sir. My brother and I love fireworks."

Dad pulled a lighter out and directed the fire in front of him into a miniature fireworks display in front of her. She clapped her hands in excitement. "Like this?"

"Yes, sir, Mr. Chief Sir. But big in the air." she said pointing to the sky.

"I'm going to have to have my daughter help me." My dad turned to me and asked, "you see how I did that?"

"I think so. Let me see it again." I said, this time concentrating on what exactly was happening. He left a little fireball to the right of him and did a little bit more of the mini-fireworks.

"Keep it tight and fast until you get the height you want. The explode and disperse it. The temperature will change the color of it. You probably won't be able to get more than three in the air at the same time without losing concentration on them." Dad explained.

"Got it." I said.

"What's your name, sweetheart?" Dad asked the little girl.

"Gemma, Gemma Littlesea." Gemma said. She must be Collin and Brady's little sister then.

"Alright Gemma, why don't you count us down from three." Dad said as he turned out towards the water. He moved the fireball in between the two of us. Sue picked up the little boy as Jacob grabbed Gemma and put her up on his shoulders. Gemma quickly buried her hands in his hair and held tight.

"Three, two, one." She said and dad and I started the fireworks. In the beginning, mine weren't as flashy or as big as Dad's but with a little bit of practice I got the hang of it.

"Bells, try more than one at a time." Dad suggested. We kept going and going, the fireworks bigger and brighter, more intricate as we competed against each other to try and outdo each other. We were getting to the end of our little show, counting down how many more when our last one was joined by an explosion larger and brighter than any of the others we'd done.

Looking over to the source of the last firework, I saw Gramps with Lucifer trailing behind him. I took off running for him. "Gramps!"

After launching myself the last little bit, Gramps caught me in his arms and swung me around. I was still laughing when he put me down. "What are you doing here?" I asked.

"Missed you too much my little firebug. Plus, it's the biggest fight against vampires since Taha Aki, I'm not going to miss out on it." Gramps said.

I chuckled as I grabbed Gramps' hand and started pulling him over to where Dad, Sue and Jacob were still standing with Gemma and her little brother. "Come meet my Beloved, Jake."

"I thought he would be. The way you pined for that boy, I was almost certain of it." Gramps said as we reached the rest of our group. He stuck his hand out for Jacob to shake and introduced himself. "Jake, it's good to meet the man I've heard so much about."

Jacob had a slightly bewildered look on his face, but reached out to shake Gramps' hand. "You've heard about me?"

"Over the years, from Charlie and Bells. Bells would never shut up about you when she came and worked for me over summer vacations. They were shortly after her visits with Charlie. I'm William, Bella's Gramps. I think your father is named after me." Gramps said with a smirk on his face.

"Good to meet you, sir." Jacob said.

"Sir is for people who aren't family. And that's what you are. You can call me Will or Gramps like Bells does." Gramps said. Jacob just nodded.

"I never knew Billy was named after you." I said to Gramps.

"Family name isn't it? Where do you think it came from in the first place?" Gramps said. He turned to Sue and Charlie and said, "Finally claimed your Beloved, eh?"

"Yes, this is my Sue." Dad said, pride ringing in his voice.

Gramps pulled her into his arms and said, "Welcome to the family."

"Thank you." Sue said.

"You've got a couple more grandkids now, Dad." Dad said.

"Really, she's preggers with twins?" Gramps said a twinkle in his eye. "You work quick, Son."

Dad flushed a brilliant shade of red. Sue answered for him, "I have two children from my previous marriage. Leah and Seth."

"Leah's coming to work for me Gramps." I said.

"She got the gift?" Gramps asked.

"Not sure," I answered, "but my metal hums when she's around. And she's got the strength, patience and endurance to learn."

"Alright. You setting up shop?" Gramps asked.

"I've got something in the works." I said, mischievous smile in place.

"When should I be expecting more pretties?" Gramps said, rubbing his hands together in anticipation.

"Don't get greedy, Gramps." I said nudging him in the side with an elbow. "You'll get 'em when I finish 'em. Just like always."

"I left my pack at the house, Son. But I think I'll take the studio above the workshop." Gramps said.

"Good, we kinda promised Leah and Seth that they could have the house." Dad said.

"It'll be good to know that there's some sort of adult supervision close by." Sue said.

"Don't know how adult the supervision will be, but he'll keep an eye on them." Dad said with a wry smile.

Brady and Collin walked over, intent on their sister and brother. Gemma was still bright eyed from the fireworks, but her brother was asleep in Sue's arms.

Gemma clapped her hands when she saw her brothers getting close, "Bray, Col, I want to pet the doggy."

Collin took their little brother out of Sue's arms and wandered off back into the crowd. Brady turned to me and asked. "Can you call the hounds over? After that we need to get them home."

"No, Bray, I want you to go poof." Gemma clasped her hands together and exploded them out, pantomiming the phase.

"Sure, Gemma, just stay with Jacob until I'm done." Brady said with a smile as he backed up a bit to phase. He shifted quickly and a grey wolf stood there, tilting his head up to Gemma who was still on Jacob's shoulders. Gemma reached down to pet Brady, so Jacob pulled her off his shoulders and placed her on Brady's back. Jacob kept his hand on her back to keep her stable as Brady started walking forward.

"That little girl is fearless. She'll make a great wolf." Gramps said. Brady's head immediately swung over as he looked at Gramps. "Does the boy know that he can take his clothes with him when he shifts?"

"Charlie was just telling us he could teach us how to do that." Jacob answered.

"Good, don't want his parents to have to spend a fortune in clothes." Our entire group laughed at the almost exact words that came from my dad earlier.

"They do that a lot. Dad and Gramps have a tendency to parrot each other." I said, still chuckling. Brady shook his head and Jacob pulled Gemma off of his back. Brady ran off to the treeline and came back moments later dressed.

"Thanks, Jake." Brady said, pulling Gemma into his arms and heading off towards where his twin had melted into the crowd.

The itch between my shoulder blades was back and worse than before. I grabbed Jake's hand and put it on my back saying, "Scratch. Please." The relief was evident on my face as Jake scratched.

The crowd had thinned down, the families with children having left to put them to bed. Eventually it dwindled down to pack and some of their family, most of the council elders, Dad, Gramps, and I. We were all huddled around the fire, Jacob and I furthest away from others.

I had noticed during most of the gathering, Jacob tended to stay away from most people. Half the time it seemed as if he was using me as a shield. His normally sunny and welcoming personality had dimmed with his need for space between himself and others. The strange phenomenon didn't happen around males as much, but he seemed to go out of his way to not touch or be touched by any female over the age of twelve.

_Was this something that came about because of Mina? I knew that we hadn't talked about what he had gone through. In fact, we hadn't talked much about either of our recent history. But then again, we've been busy the last couple of days. Couple of days? Was it only last night that Jacob and I burned? Time is getting away from me._ I put it in the back of my mind to discuss when there was better timing.

Gramps pulled me from my musings when he said, "So, I've got someone doing some recon for me in Seattle." All attention was on him after that little nugget of information was dropped.

"Recon?" Billy asked.

"Yeah, you know to find out how many leeches we're going to be up against. David and Matthew are checking around there, and then they'll head this way. They have a few contacts there that will keep us apprised of any movements."

"When will they be arriving?" Sam asked.

"Should be here in a few days. Five at the latest. Depends on how sloppy this Victoria is." Gramps said. "We need to figure out where we want to meet her."

"Meet her?" Billy asked.

"Well, she's never going to make it here, so you'll have to go out and meet her to take her out." Gramps said. I stifled a chuckle, thinking it sounded like they were going to date her, not kill her.

"We'll figure out a couple of different options, depending on which route she'd take. You up for a ride tomorrow?" Sam asked.

Gramps patted Lucifer, who had wandered back over at the beginning of the conversation. "We'd be more than happy to keep up with you young pups."

"Bring it, old man," someone from the pack called out. I suspected Paul at first, but since there was no slap to the back of the head from Rachel following the statement, it must have been Quil. A few grumbles of agreement could be heard.

I rolled my eyes and huffed at the chest thumping. "You guys realize, this is the man that taught me how to fight. Age does not slow us down, it gives us more time to learn new tricks."

"Why don't you put your money where your mouth is Swan, we can take you any day of the week." Quil said, an obnoxious look on his face I just wanted to smack off. A few of the pack members were rubbing their hands together in anticipation of a fight.

"Anytime, anywhere, Pack versus Demons? Or just you versus me? Cause I'm pretty sure I could take you." I challenged back. Cheers and jeers rang out from the pack. Jacob's arms tightened around me as tension built.

"Let's see what you got little girl." Quil said and I immediately launched myself out of Jacob's embrace straight towards Quil.

I knocked Quil down to the sand hard. We rolled a couple of times before we came to a stop with me on top. Three of my knives pinned his shorts deep into the sand, keeping his lower half from going anywhere. I ran my claws gently down the side of his face, "Want to try that again? Cause I'm pretty sure it'll have the same outcome."

Everyone burst out laughing as the hellhounds crowded over Quil's face, trying to lick it off. "Bella, get them off!"

"Not until you say 'Bella kicked my ass'." I taunted Quil.

"Bella can kiss my ass." Quil pouted like a two year old. Chuckles broke out from the watching crowd.

"Brimstone, sit." I said.

Brimstone turned around and started the descent of his ass to Quil's face when Quil squirmed and called out, "Bella kicked my ass! I give! I give! Don't let him sit on me!"

"Aw, poor Quilly, did Brimstone almost sit on you?" I cooed overly-sweet at him.

"Yes, yes, now get off me!" Quil said, his further struggles earning a giggle from me.

"What, you can't get a little thing like me off of you?" I taunted him some more. Mostly just because I could.

"You're heavy." Quil grunted.

"Are you saying I'm fat?" I asked, a fake note of offense tingeing my voice.

"God, no, woman! I'm not that dumb." Quil said as I smacked a quick kiss to his forehead and used his torso like a springboard to launch myself back into Jacob's arms. Quil grunted before saying, "I think you broke a rib."

"Suck it up, Ateara," Jacob snarled at Quil before kissing me quickly on the lips.

"There is a good idea in that, we should train together." Gramps said. "As the Firebug says, Pack versus Demons? Tomorrow afternoon after our ride?"

"Sure, could be a good idea," Sam answered, "if Quil gets off his ass. But there's ten of us, and only three of you. How's that going to be a fair fight?"

"You let us worry about it, you worry about keeping your asses in one piece." Gramps said. I rolled my eyes.


	21. Chapter 21: Legends

**Hellhounds and Demons**

Chapter 21

Legends

"Quil, why'd you invite Angela to the bonfire?" Jacob asked.

"Yeah, fucker," Paul chimed in, "you knew that we were going to spill the secret, wasn't that a big ass risk to take? What if I hadn't noticed her and Embry hadn't imprinted?"

"The metal itched." Quil said as every piece of metal I had made shivered along my body. "When I passed Angela on the sidewalk, the blades Bella gave us itched and I knew I had to invite her. Not really sure why, just had to do it."

"Did anyone else feel anything with the blades?" Gramps asked.

"I felt them pulling me towards Angie when she was talking to Bella." Embry said. My blades twitched once more and I felt the rightness of them.

"You know anything about this, firebug?" Gramps asked, turning towards me.

"They'll help find imprints." I said. Everyone's attention was turned towards me, expecting more of an answer. "This is kind of a side effect, so I wasn't sure that it would happen this way or not. Their purpose is to protect the imprints. They can't do their purpose if the imprint has not been imprinted on. They will all work together to find the imprints that still need to be found."

"You're saying these pieces are intelligent? That they think?" someone asked, I wasn't sure who.

"Not exactly." I tried to put to words the instincts that have been guiding me. "Metal speaks to me, mostly about what it wants to be. It's not like a fully developed consciousness. They tell me what they want to be, and I work to make them that way. Since they are at the fullest of their potential, they in return work better than other pieces. They want to protect imprints. They work to do that. For Quil, they itched, for Embry, they pulled, for me they shiver, twitch, hum, whisper, and sing. Some of you might feel this better than others. You just have to be open to what they're saying to you."

"Is there a right or wrong way to be wearing them?" Sam asked.

"As close to skin as possible." I said. "David and Matthew can make scabbards for them when they get here."

"Who's this David and Matthew you keep talking about?" Sam asked.

"David and Matthew are Rage Demons." I answered. "Kinda like us but a little different. They can't work with fire like we do, but their claws, fangs, and horns are poisonous. They taught me the sword."

"They're really good with leather." Gramps explained further. "They made what Bella's wearing, her scabbard, and her wrist and ankle holsters. Their family has been making leather goods for our family for years. Most of our blades have been encased by their scabbards for generations."

All of a sudden, the itch slammed into me yet again, with a raging intensity. The skin between my shoulderblades burned and itched making me twitch in an effort to alleviate it. There was a compression on my chest at the same time, making it harder to breathe. I reached back and grabbed my right elbow with my left hand so that I could stretch back far enough to scratch it. There was a slight easing of the pressure, but Jacob grabbed my hands and pulled them away. "Bells, you're cutting into your skin there."

"But it burns, Jake. Let me go. _Please_." Tears started streaming down my face as the burning continued, pressure steadily building. The muscles in my back were spasming as I twitched and rolled my shoulders, trying to relieve the pressure. Jacob released my hands and they immediately went back to scratching.

"Jake, back up," Gramps said with worry in his voice. "Everyone step back from Bella now. Give her some room."

My claws were digging into my back but it didn't hurt, not as much as the pressure in my chest. I started panicking, my breaths coming in shallow pants as the tension continued to build. I twisted and turned, trying to get the right angle, desperate to stop the pain. All of a sudden, the pressure released and I was flung face first into the sand. Wet plops sounded as something unfurled to either side of me. There was still some pressure in the middle of my back, but I just lay there for a moment breathing heavily, trying to relax. Murmurs from the crowd were indistinct as I tried to catch my breath.

"Bells, I'm right behind you" I heard Gramps say as he approached me, "and I'm going to cut your top a bit to relieve the last bit of the pressure you're feeling."

Gramps grabbed one of my blades and sliced the leathers, releasing the last of the pressure that had nearly strangled me with pain. I smelled Jacob and felt his heat before his hands stroked down my arms, further relaxing me.

"You going to get up?" Jacob asked quietly.

"Give me a minute." I said before pulling my hands underneath my shoulders to push myself up. Muscles twitched and flexed in my back, I must have disturbed something back there. A strange slithering sound made my eyes pop open to look at what was making that noise. The sight that greeted me, had me paused in a half crouch. Black leathery sheets were hanging from these pole like things that came from my back. "Holy shit! I have wings?!"

"Apparently." Dad said with a frown on his face as he looked at the length of the wings. Each wing stretched out at least double the length of my handspan if not more.

"Did you know I would get them?" I asked. Jacob pulled me upright and into his lap. I shivered as he ghosted his fingertips over the spines of my wings, waking up the nerve endings. The muscles twitched, pulled and stretched, registering the possibilities and limitations of the new muscles. I rested my head on one of Jacob's pecs, just trying to take in all this new information.

"What part of rare and unknown, do you not get about yourself?" Gramps snarked at me. "There are legends, but we don't know what is true and what isn't. Sort of like Sam when he phased."

"The only stories of a female fire demon who had wings was from over a thousand years ago." Dad said. "She kinda added to the dragon legends."

"So great, I get to have wings protruding from my back all the time?" I asked.

"Stories say that they were retractable." Gramps said.

"And how's that supposed to work?" I asked even more annoyed.

"No clue." Dad said, completely unhelpful.

"Great." I snarked at him.

"Welcome to my world, Swan." Sam said.

"If you can manage to help me figure out how to pull them back into my body, I'll be indebted to you forever." I said. "I will bake you cookies whenever you want."

"What I tell all the new wolves when they need to figure out how to phase back, is to think about how it feels to be human. To remember how it felt to walk on two legs instead of four. To remember skin without fur, teeth without fangs, hands with fingers and what feet with toes felt like. Maybe you should try thinking of how it feels without the wings? Or try to pull the muscles in tight against your back?" Sam suggested.

I sat up straight as I pulled the wings in tight to my back, trying to keep them as high and close to my shoulder blades as possible while at the same time, thinking about what it was like not to have wings. I felt a snap and there was a loosening of the tension that had my muscles so tight. Jacob's arms wrapped around me as I slumped into them, relishing in the heat and synchronicity of our heartbeats. I tuned everything out but the sound of our hearts, the timing of our breaths, and the feeling of his arms wrapped around me. The heat trails from Jacob's fingertips as he drew circles on my back were lulling me to sleep. I faintly heard someone say, "Take her home" before I succumbed to the darkness.

Jostling woke me up as cool sheets met my naked limbs. I yawned and cracked an eye to look around. Jacob stood there, pulling off his shirt and then dropping his jeans to the floor leaving him in grey boxer briefs. My mouth grew dry at the appealing sight before me. If I had any energy left at all, I would pull him to me and revel in his heat.

"Bed, Bells." Jacob said. I nodded my head and drifted back to sleep as he wrapped me in his arms.

XOX

A whimper woke me up. I squinted at the glowing red numbers of the alarm clock and saw that it was just after six. The whimper came again, and I turned over to see Jacob on the other side of the bed, curled up with a look of pain on his face. He flinched and whimpered a bit louder.

"Babe, wake up, it's just a nightmare." I said, reaching out to smooth my palm over his cheek. He flinched away from my hand, whimpering louder, "Baby, Jacob, wake up."

Jacob woke with a start and flipped me over on my back, snarling in my face. I spoke calmly while staying as still as possible so as not to startle him further. "Babe, its Bella. You were having a nightmare."

Jacob's snarls turned to growls, then quieted further before he collapsed on top of me with his nose buried where my neck and shoulder met. He took deep breaths in before pulling back to look me in the eyes. "Sorry, Bells."

"What was the nightmare about?" I asked.

"Mina. She was hurting you, and I couldn't get to you in time, no matter how fast I ran, no matter who I had to fight to get to you." Jacob's arms slithered underneath me, holding me as close as he could.

"Mina's gone. And I'm not going anywhere." I assured him, wrapping my arms around him tightly. Burying one of my hands in his hair, I gave him as much physical confirmation of my presence as possible.

"I know. It just, it just felt so real." he murmured.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I asked, knowing that this would end up being an equal opportunity sharing if he decided to talk.

"I think some of this might be easier to see." he said. Jacob breathed deeply one last time before pushing himself up. "Come on, I've got some stuff to show you."

We got dressed and he pulled me out of the house, our breath fogging in the early morning light. I followed Jacob along a path between the trees. I had no clue where we were going since the forest is not my home like it is Jacob's and the pack. The trees thinned out until we came to a clearing. Jacob paused and I walked to stand next to him.

In the middle of the clearing was a metal and glass monstrosity of a house. Large pieces of metal curved up from the ground to met each other at the center. They looked like ribs poking through the skin of someone who'd been starved. Glass spanned the entire front side, with corrugated metal along the back. The whole thing gave off a feeling of coldness, rather than the warmth that exuded from any of the pack's homes. The metal felt dead, stripped of all usefulness. The silence of it scared me.

"She wanted a house." Jacob whispered. "She wanted this house. So I built it."

He turned to me and took both of my hands in his. I looked in his eyes and nearly burst into tears at the pain and shame that was written there. "This house will explain better than anything what it was like."

I turned to face the house again. Jacob had lived here. At least for a little while. I tentatively started walking towards it, Jacob shuffling his feet and slowly following after. The reluctance to enter the house was shown through his hesitance and slumped shoulders. Never had I seen Jacob so lost or without confidence. That was part of his charm.

We reached the door and I walked into the house, the sweet cloying scent of empousa filled my lungs and nearly made me choke. She'd been gone for a few weeks but the stench was still overwhelming. The feeling of coldness seeped into my bones as I walked further into the house.

It wasn't until I got to the bedroom that I pulled Jacob into my arms and started sobbing for the pain he had gone through.

* * *

**Next chapter will be JPOV...**


	22. Chapter 22: Jacob

**Hellhounds and Demons**

Chapter 22

Jacob

When I met my imprint, it was like the entire world shifted. Only it wasn't the blissful, happy feeling that all the other imprinted wolves felt. It was laced with pain and foreboding. How could I have imprinted? I knew that being with Bella was _all_ I ever wanted. Since we were kids, I had loved her. She was my everything.

My wolf whimpered when Mina told me that she didn't want me seeing Bella again. He went silent for a long time after that as well. Most of the time he was right on the surface of my thoughts, especially when ever Bella was around. He seemed to take pleasure in seeing her slowly getting better. As if he was patiently waiting for something to happen.

Waiting for her to be whole.

It was rather fitting that he abandoned me while I was abandoning Bella. I knew that she was still hurt. She had been getting so much better, and to deny her like that I knew would put her back to where she was before.

Being phased with anyone in the pack was torture after that. Seeing zombie Bella come back, watching as she lost more weight, the dark circles underneath her eyes pained me just as much as if it was my own imprint. I avoided my pack mates as much as possible.

When Bella left the area it was a relief and a deeper hurt at the same time. Relief that I no longer had to see how bad off she was, but a deeper hurt because she was no longer around. By then my self-imposed isolation from the pack was complete and I was unable to get back to the happy medium we had had before.

Mina didn't care that I was hurting. She was constantly pushing to do things different. Making things better for 'us'. There was no 'us.' There was only her and what she wanted. It started with moving out of my dad's house. At first I was able to put her off since there was no place for us to move to. She weaseled the patch of land behind my dad's house and then started pushing me to build her a house.

A house of metal and glass.

A house with no life, no comfort, no soul in it.

It was new, sterile, and lacking in personality. The house was built quickly, Mina would pester the other guys in the pack to help me out whenever they had a free moment. I was never quite sure where the money for the supplies came from, Mina was constantly ordering things online. She pushed me to work on it every spare moment I had, almost to the point where I was ignoring my own responsibilities in the pack and the small woodworking business I had started up.

The only good thing about the house was the outbuilding I built for my woodworking business. It wasn't too close to the house since Mina didn't want any sounds or smells from the workshop able to reach the house. It afforded me a small amount of privacy and respite from Mina.

The beginning of our relationship was seemingly normal. She seemed to care for me, and though I never felt an overshadowing love for her like Sam said he did for Emily, we got along well enough. My supposed love for her never pushed my love for Bella aside, but by the time I had realized it, the damage was done, Bella was gone, and everyone thought that Mina was who I was destined to be with. At that point Mina realized my true feelings for Bella.

And she was vindictive.

It started small, bringing Bella into conversations, commenting on how she left. Acting as if it was something Bella did on purpose, not something Mina had forced me to do. Pictures showed up in frames on the walls. At first it was old pictures of the two of us from summer vacations spent on First Beach.

Later it was the more recent ones that had been stuck to the mirror in my room by Bella herself. Pictures of us together at bonfires, on the cliffs before jumping, the two of us on the motorbikes she had brought to me to fix up. These constant reminders of our life together and what I had lost was a constant pain, that never was relieved and never healed over.

Sex became something she held over me. I had never had an overwhelming desire for her, but I gave her what she wanted, thinking that she was who I was meant to be with. Mina slowly changed the rules in which we could have sex and made it more of a way to punish me than something loving between a couple. In the end, it was more of me giving her whatever she wanted just to get it over with. The whips, collars, and punishments, I gave into, not knowing what else to do. I would have asked the other imprinted wolves if this was something they had encountered, but I had isolated myself so well in the beginning, it was hard to open up to them. None of them knew the lengths to which I would degrade myself, just to be done, just to not have to deal with that for the next couple of days.

The punishments would only get worse if I had any contact with females, even my own sister. Female touch eventually had my skin crawling in revulsion.

I was happy when I felt her connection to me snap. Knowing she died left me with a sick sense of relief and a giant dose of guilt. The cold and pain that slowly ate at my joints, I at first attributed to how I should have felt because she died. By the time my father had me moved back into his house, I was nearly delirious in my pain. The next couple of days were spent in a haze of pain and delusions. At one point I was sure that Bella was back. I could smell her scent, but knowing the damage that I had caused, there was no way she could be there.

At one point I felt heat, stronger than when I first phased. It poured over my body, burning away the haziness and pain running through my veins. When the heat was over I felt the phase come on without thought. Realizing there was someone at my back caused me to instantly try to throw them off. I was running on pure instinct at first, and I had their throat in my teeth, but when I saw those brown eyes peek up at me, it only took a moment.

The world shifted.

Gravity moved.

Bonds were tied.

And this time it was beautiful.

There was no pain, no shame, no anger. Nothing but the love I held for her before.

Only more.

There was a richness and depth to it this time. My wolf basked in her nearness. Even when phased back, he was right there, enjoying watching her. His mate. She was stronger than before, finally whole and healed. Something in which he rejoiced.

I had thought that with this new imprint, it would wipe out the damage done by Mina. Most of it was, but there was still some lingering ghosts from the false imprint. I was still wary of females. I avoided their touch, flinched when contact was made, except from Bella. My Bella was perfect. I felt complete whenever she touched me. So much so that I was touching her all the time. From innocent touches to passionate embraces. Anything, everything, every moment.

Taking her to the house I had built for Mina was hard. I knew exactly what was in that bedroom. The implements of her sexual torture hung on the walls of our bedroom. Another reminder of the degradation she would continue to inflict on me. The whips, the chains, the collars. I had submitted, knowing that it was what Mina had wanted, but never enjoyed or participated willingly. To open myself up to Bella, to show her what I had let happen to me, was difficult. I knew she wouldn't look down on me or judge me for it, but I had kept this secret to myself. She would be the first person to know of it. Hopefully the only person to know of it.

When she pulled me into her arms and started crying upon first seeing the bedroom, I couldn't help but cry myself. It was the first time I mourned for myself. What I had endured. Now knowing that Mina hadn't been my imprint. How much of it was sick torture that she fed on.

We collapsed to the floor of the bedroom. We both continued to just breathe. Bella pulled my face down to hers, looked me in the eyes, and said, "Jacob William Black, I love you with everything I have in me. I am extremely proud of who you are as a person, and am happy that you survived Mina. This," she said gesturing to the room around us, "is something you never have to do ever again."

The relief I felt was immediate. I knew that showing her would be easier in the long term than trying to explain. She gets me, just as I get her. Since she was so close, I pulled her those few inches and kissed her. Happy to be the one to initiate intimacy. Instant excitement and arousal at the thought of loving my Bella how she deserves. Soft, slow, exploring every moment with her.

Bella whimpered when I picked her up in my arms and laid her down on the bed. We continued to kiss as I figured out the clasps on her leather vest. They parted easily after a few moments of struggle, revealing her creamy flesh. I pulled back to see what I had uncovered. The chilly air in the room caused her pink little nipples to harden instantly. Bella hissed as I engulfed her entire breast in one of my hands, the heat a direct contrast to the cool air. I kissed my way down her neck and towards the nipple that was being neglected. She groaned at the touch of my tongue and teeth, gently abrading the sensitive skin.

Bella's arched her back, grinding her hips against my jean covered erection. There were too many layers, so I trailed my unoccupied hand down to her pants and popped the button. I ghosted my fingers against the soft skin below her belly button before working her pants down her hips.

Bella pulled my head up to hers and looked me in the eye, "you sure? We can wait."

"I want you with every fiber of my being." I explained. "I think making love to you will go a long way to pushing memories of that torture from my mind."

"I'm yours. Always was. Always will be." Bella said before pulling me down to kiss her again. I traced along the curves of her body, gently making my way to the source of the most beautiful scent in the world. She was dripping with warmed honey.

It felt so good when I pushed my fingers into her, I could just imagine how great she would feel wrapped around my cock. When I used my thumb to circle her little nubbin, she hissed in a breath and looked me in the eyes. She wrapped one of her arms around my shoulders and the fingers of her other hand was tangled tight into my hair.

We watched each other as I continued to push and pull my fingers through her satin sheath. I circled her clit a bit more, adding another finger, her claws digging into my shoulder as she sucked in a breath. The intensity of the moment, coupled with the intimacy of seeing each others souls reflected in our eyes, heightened the pleasure. Me, knowing that I was the one that could make her feel this way, her receiving a hundred percent of my attention.

I couldn't stop myself from watching her as she continued to get closer and closer to her orgasm, her eyes going to half mast, arching her back. The smell of her arousal, the taste of her skin lingering in my mouth, the sound of her slightly labored breathing, the feel of her hot sex as I curled my fingers, all gave way as I took her over the edge. She screamed my name as she clamped onto my fingers.

The wolf had been watching while I had been pleasuring her but now he was insistent. _Mate. Claim. Mark._ I flipped her over on her stomach and pulled her up to her hands and knees. She was slow to respond but figured out what I wanted from my soft touches. Instinctively, she pulled her hair off to the side, turning her head and offering me her neck. For a moment, I just drank in the sight before me, relishing in the idea that she was mine. I didn't have to wait anymore.

She was whole, I was whole, and together we were perfection.

I let the wolf guide me, knowing that this was his moment just as much as it was mine. Covering her back with my body, slowly slipping my cock into her pussy, giving her time to stretch out. She arched back, hissing her pleasure. Once I was fully seated, I nuzzled her exposed neck, nibbling lightly along the muscles there.

With a slow rhythm I pumped my hips into her, twisting at the end with a slow grind. I sped up slowly, whispering in her ear how much I loved her, how turned on she made me, how I couldn't wait to fuck her in every position known to man. She clenched down on me as I continued to tell her in explicit detail the different types of positions I wanted to take her in.

I could feel her getting close once again as I started pounding into her, wrapping my arm around her shoulders, pulling her up so that we were just kneeling in the middle of the bed. Her hands went to my ass, trying to keep me close as I continued to fuck her. One of my hands went to her clit, and just as she hit her orgasm, I bit down on the muscle on her shoulder and let myself go. I felt the pinpricks of her claws as they bit into my ass, but rather than reminding me of things best forgotten, it only made my orgasm continue on.

We slumped to our sides on the bed, both breathing heavily. She turned around in my arms and kissed my lips. I ran my finger over the healing bite mark on her shoulder and she shivered. "I was supposed to ask before I did this."

"I'd say that puts us about even since I was supposed to ask before I did this." she said patting my ass. I craned my neck around to see what she was referring to, and saw the ten little dents her claws had made in my ass cheeks.

"Guess that does make us even." I said smiling at her.

* * *

**Aww...**


	23. Chapter 23: Flight

**Hellhounds and Demons**

Chapter 23

Flight

"Anything you want to keep in this house?" I asked as we got dressed.

"Nah, anything of sentimental value, I kept in the workshop out back." Jacob said.

"Good, cause I'm going to light it up."

"Bells, metal doesn't burn." Jacob said.

"No, but it melts when the fire's hot enough." I said with a smirk. The lighter was out of my pocket before I continued, "you should really leave now, since you don't really like the way fire feels on your skin."

Jacob headed out, and I flicked the lighter, growing the fire, wrapping it around me. I turned the heat higher than most normal fires, encouraging the metal to melt down. I made my way out of the house just before the metal started dripping on me. Jacob wrapped his arms around me as we watched the house slowly fold in on itself, the glass shattering frequently with small pops.

"Well, that was fun." Jacob said sarcastically. "Want to go test out your wings?"

"Where exactly do you think we could do that?" I asked, recognizing that Jacob needed a distraction from the heavy thoughts and feelings burning the house had brought up.

"We could go out to the cliffs. It would give you room to maneuver, and if you don't get it figured out right away, you just fall into the water."

"Huh, you have been thinking about this way more than I have. I was planning on just ignoring them."

"Can't do that, Bells." Jacob said with an earnest expression on his face. "If it's anything like phasing to the wolf, you're going to have to let them out frequently, or else it'll make you crazy. You just might have the whole itchy back thing again."

"Alright, let's go jump off a cliff. You're going to have to play lifeguard since I don't know how well I'll be able to swim with them unfurled. They might drag me down."

"Bells, you know I'll always be there for you." he said, my favorite smile on his face.

We started walking out to the cliffs. The summer sun was out for once and we basked in the heat of it as it filtered through the forest covering. When we got to the cliff, it seemed as if we were not the only ones with the idea to go cliff diving. Embry, Angela, Quil, and Leah were at the top with Seth, Brady, and Colin already in the water. We greeted them as we walked up to the cliffs edge.

"Hey, Ange," I said pulling her a little to the side and hugging her. I knew that we were still in wolf hearing range, but wanted to give her a sense of privacy. "How are you doing? Did Embry get a chance to explain everything?"

She hugged me back just as tight, if not tighter before releasing me. "Yes, he did. And it's a lot to take in. I still have questions though. Do you think you can spare some time for me soon? I would really love to get your opinions on some things, especially since you are a fellow imprint."

"Not a problem." I said as we watched Quil jump. "How bout some time tomorrow afternoon? I plan on working in my workshop until mid-afternoon, do you want to swing by after that?"

"Yeah," Angela answered. "I've got an appointment with the Tribal school here at 1 so I can come over after that's done?"

"Sounds great. You ever cliff dived before?" I asked, not remembering her ever participating in it before. Leah screamed as she jumped off.

"Always wanted to, but never really felt comfortable enough to go by myself."

Embry picked her up in his arms. "That's why you have me to take you." he said, sneaking a quick kiss to her cheek before throwing the both of them off the edge.

I turned to Jacob who had been standing next to Embry and held a hand out to him. He captured my hand in his before raising it to his mouth and kissing it softly. "You ready for this?"

"Not really, but if I don't try I don't think I ever will." I said, trying to not let my nervousness show.

"Well, you need to get your wings out if you're even going to contemplate this." he said a teasing note in his voice.

"Yeah, yeah, details, shmetails." I said grinning. I concentrated on the feeling in my back, how if felt when I released my wings the first time. A pop sounded and there was a heavier weight in my back as an extra set of muscles and nerves came back into feeling. I stretched them out, feeling like an extra set of arms, testing their limitations. They were completely independent from each other, but easily worked together when I flapped them a little.

"You want me to jump first? Or do you need me here to talk you into it?" Jacob said, watching me with a look of wonder in his eyes.

"I think you should stay with me? Otherwise I might not jump. We've only ever jumped together off this cliff." I said reminding him of the many times we'd jump with him holding me close.

"Alright. You should probably go to the edge." Jacob chuckled.

"Fine." I said as I approached the drop off. Jumping with Jacob previously was easy, knowing that he would be there. Jumping off today was difficult, because not only would I be by myself, but I would be attempting something I didn't know if I could actually do. _ Best get it over with._

I threw myself off the edge, trying to get myself far enough out, away from the cliffs. Normally when cliff jumping, we jump feet first, but instinct pulled me down head first, as I stretched out my wings. Maneuvering my wings as I tried to pull my body into a glide was a lot more difficult than I anticipated. It was like pulling something out of wet concrete. I finally did it though, pulling into a horizontal glide at just the last moment, being close enough to trail my fingers through the water.

I heard the cheering and clapping from the pack as I passed over their heads, flapping my wings to gain altitude.

I spun.

I twirled.

I looped around.

I danced on the air.

It was so exhilarating to fly. My vision was much more clear as I flew, seeing further than I had before. I could make out Jacob's happy smiling face from where he was still on the cliff top, watching as I spun circles in the air. I could see the rest of the pack as they made their way to the beach, ready to climb up the path to the cliff top again.

I faltered for a moment, losing a few feet of height, as a chill ran up my spine. Metal whispered from Forks, slowly rising in pitch and alarm. The spike by the house must be picking up on something. I pulled my phone out of my pocket, completely having forgotten that if I had hit the water it would have been a goner. Dialing Jacob as I pulled myself higher and higher in altitude.

"Bells?" Jacob answered.

"I'm heading to the Forks house. Metals whispering from there and I'm going to check it out."

"What?" Jacob said.

"I'm going to the Forks house." I said as loudly as I could.

"You're going to the Forks house?" he repeated. It dawned on me that the wind must be extremely loud, but I had no way to cut down on it.

"Yes," I yelled. "Phase and meet me there!"

"I'm going to phase and meet you there, okay?"

"Yes!" I was completely frustrated with this. If I could text and fly, I would be better off.

_Texting. _

Shit, that would be so much better than calling.

_I'm going to the Forks house. Metal whispered an alarm. Dad's working out there today, phase and meet me there._ ~B

_K. See you._ ~J

Much better, I relaxed as I fully concentrated on where I was heading. I used the whispers from the Forks house to guide me since it would take less time going the direct route than following the roads. Howls were following along behind me, as well as a couple out to the east.

It was surprising how quickly I made it to Forks, circling above the house for a moment before moving to the workshop. It was there that I found them. My dad was holding off three vamps who were trying their best to take him down. He was holding his own pretty well, but three vamps against one demon is pretty hard to do.

I dove, pulling out my sword as I went, and landed full speed on the back of one of the vamps. At that velocity, the vamp was taken to the ground with his face and shoulders buried a bit in the earth. I slammed down my sword into the back of his neck, twisting it side to side, decapitating him. My lighter was out and he started burning almost immediately. I looked up to seeing one in its own little bonfire, and the other missing their arms and legs.

"Why aren't you burning that one?" I asked.

"Information." Dad said. "Gotta find out what they're doing here."

"Oh," I said sheepishly. Never would have thought of that.

The pack showed up and Jacob strode up to me, grabbing me around the waist and holding me up so that we were eye level. "You alright?"

"Yup, took out a vamp while Dad took out the other two. He's going to interrogate the leftovers." I said pointing to the torso and head of the vampire.

"My wolf's going a little crazy with having you out of his eyesight for so long. Next time wait a bit and catch a ride with me." Jacob said, the steel in his voice changing the request to a demand. His eyes were taking inventory of me, making sure I was whole.

"Sure, sure." I said reaching up to caress his cheek. "You going to be okay when we fight vamps or are you going to be distracted?"

"I'm pretty sure I'll be okay during the fight, we just might be locked away for a couple days afterwards." Jacob said with a leer.

I couldn't stop myself from rolling my eyes. "Soundproofing. Heavy duty soundproofing."

"What are you talking about?" Jacob asked, his eyebrows scrunched together.

"Modifications that need to be done to our house. I'm pretty sure Billy doesn't want to be hearing us going at it all the time. And I'm not comfortable with the idea of him being able to hear us. So you won't be getting any unless there's soundproofing." I claimed, my face burning. I was pretty certain I resembled a tomato at the moment.

"Check. That'll go on the list for tomorrow." Jake's leer was back in place.

"Little Swan, you been ignoring me?" Paul's voice popped the little bubble the two of us had been encased in.

"No, why would you think that Paulie?" I asked, turning in Jacob's arms to face one of my favorite wolves.

"You've been home for how many days and haven't brought me any butterscotch cookies? I'm starting to think you've forgotten about me." Paul said, a put-upon frown marring the near perfection of his face. His pretty face is what I constantly teased him was the reason why he got so much action. He claimed it was his sexual prowess, I thought it was because the women he went after were too stupid to say no.

"This is my third day home, I've been a little busy. I'll get you your damn cookies sometime this week." I patted him on the cheek. He flinched since I hit a lot harder than I used to. "Patience is a virtue."

"My virtues are long gone, Swan. Rach's been dieing to try your butterscotch cookies. I've told her all about them since they're almost as good as her butterscotch blondies. Something about trading recipes?" Paul continued.

"I'll give you cookies if you consider taking me on as a client. I heard you had a head for numbers." I said, trying to bribe my way into a deal. Paul would probably do it for free, but I didn't want to yank his arm to get him to do it.

"What kind of numbers are we talking about?" Paul asked, seriousness overtaking his face. I was unfamiliar with a serious Paul, but it was a welcome difference from the leers and innuendos.

"Payroll for a small business. Setting up financials for a workshop on the rez. Percentages of the profits going to the rez as rent. Things like that. Think you can handle it?"

"Oh, baby, I can more than handle it." he said with an eyebrow waggle. And there was the Paul I had been missing.

"Monday evening? I'll bring you my info and cookies?" I asked.

"Sure, I'll ask Rach to make dinner. Bring your boy toy. Rach has missed her baby brother." Paul said winking at Jacob. Jacob curled back his lip in silent snarl at Paul.


	24. Chapter 24: Spies

**Hellhounds and Demons**

Chapter 24

Spies

Later that afternoon, most of the pack as well as Dad and our familiars were waiting for Gramps and Sam to get back for a training session. The pack seemed to be a little tense in anticipation, but Dad, the familiars and I were resting for the fight to come. The jittery muscles wound tight were in direct contrast to the relaxed almost lackadaisical non-tension that was a conservation of energy.

This contrast really highlighted the differences between Pack and Demon. Whereas the Pack would be better served to be ramped up before the fight, Demons waited, slowly assessing strengths and weaknesses. Unbeknownst to the Pack, Dad and I watched. Watched how they interacted. The jittery tension showed their flaws and weaknesses like a map.

Embry favored his right hand to throw a punch in spite of being a lefty. Paul telegraphed his intentions by squinting his left eye before jabbing. Jared feinted to the right immediately after feinting left twice. Leah favored a roundhouse kick, which was good since she had a significant lack of upper body strength in comparison to the other wolves. Seth, Colin, and Brady all needed more experience since they were seriously lacking in follow through. Jacob's weakness was me, since he didn't pay enough attention to his surroundings. Amazingly enough, Quil was the only one who's weaknesses were not on display before the fight. Mostly because he took the relaxation us demon's took as laziness, and joined in by napping under a tree.

Dad and I were communicating all this information about the pack as well as what I knew about them from before, through a simple use of Morse code. Gramps had drilled me on it starting the first summer I spent at his house. The pack brushed off the soft tapping as a nervous tick, rather than a means of communication. Our plan to ambush the pack as soon as Gramps came into the clearing was then communicated to our familiars. I pushed the face of the wolf that each of the hounds would be taking down, along with the command to wait into their heads.

Out of nowhere, all of the Pack but Quil came to an immediate standstill, ears perked. I heard the whisperings of the metal Gramps always had on him, before the sound of hoofbeats echoed through the trees. The sound of Sam's paws on the ground were largely outweighed by Lucifer. Gramps must not have been going for stealth on his way back since I knew they could both sneak up on David or Matthew whenever they felt like it.

Gramps swung through the treeline, Lucifer cantering over to where we were seated. Dad and I tensed, readying ourselves with our plan. _Now!_ I said to the hounds before pulling my sword and vaulting over the back of Lucifer, just as he turned to face the rest of the pack. I quickly took out Paul and Jared, Jared with a couple of knives strategically placed, pinning his cutoffs to the tree behind him, just before tumbling Paul to the the ground exactly how I had taken Quil out the night before.

I looked up, and Demon, King, and Brimstone were sitting on Seth, Brady, and Colin. Dad had taken out Jacob and Leah, while Nico and Demus had pounced on Quil and Embry. Gramps had taken down Sam when he rounded back. We hadn't even given them a chance to say go, but in the coming up battle, there would be no starting gun, there would be no green light. There would be showing up, there would be a fight, and with a lot of luck and hard work, there would be victory.

The pack learned a hard lesson in that moment. Never discount something as insignificant. Familiars had leveled the playing field, they just hadn't noticed until it was too late.

"And that, Pack, is why you never wait for a fight to come to you." Gramps said. "Now we train."

Gramps was brutal in the training session. First, he broke them down one by one after Dad, Gramps and I had a little discussion of what we had observed prior to the ambush. Since I was entirely too familiar with Gramps' training methods, which were eerily similar to David's, I was not surprised when he constantly asked me to spar with whoever he was working with. He knew that preconceived notions could get you killed and hesitation only spills your blood rather than the enemy's.

I was, however, shocked, when Gramps had Dad take on Jacob, but in the middle of the fight, Gramps slid a knife under my throat. Jacob's immediate distraction in the fight led to him being taken down in a matter of moments. A second after that, I had Gramps down on the ground, the knife he had had in his hand, now in mine.

When Jacob looked up to see the reversal of positions, he realized that fighting alongside me was going to be a lot harder than he thought. He was going to have to trust that I could get out of most situations on my own, and he had to let me fight my own battles, since I was just as skilled in fighting as he was.

After Gramps went through all the pack, tearing them down, and building them back up, he had them phase and went through it all again. There were less weaknesses this time around, since what they learned in human form seemed to translate over when in wolf form.

Almost all of the Pack left the clearing limping. If they weren't limping, they were walking like old men, creaky in their bones.

I just wanted to go home, take a shower, eat, and fall into bed. Jacob had more energy than me, since he had been in the middle of the training rota and had had time to recover. He stayed phased, nudged me close to his back, and laid down. Realizing Jacob was my only ride home since I was too tired to fly, and I hadn't figured out yet how to take off from standing yet, I climbed on.

Jacob's pace was slow and easy, lulling me into a light sleep. Other wolves fur brushing up against me further increased the feeling of security which tried to pull me down into a deeper sleep, but I knew I had a while to go yet before I could truly sleep.

XOX

As the week started, and work for people came back to haunt them, I got back into a routine. The early mornings were spent with Gramps and Dad fighting. By mid-morning, Leah would show up at the workshop and I started teaching her the basics of pounding metal. She had a real talent for it, I didn't have her doing anything complicated, but whatever I gave her, she picked it up quickly. The metal continued to whisper to me whenever she was in the workshop.

We would work on that for a bit and usually by mid to late afternoon, we would head down to the reservation. I would go to see how Jacob was doing on whatever he was working on in his workshop, and Leah would go to help her mom out if she needed it.

If Jacob was done for the day, we'd hang out for a while with whoever else from the pack was free. If he wasn't done, I would sit on one of the wooden stools and watch him work, just like I used to in his garage. It was peaceful to sit there and watch pieces of wood come to life in his hands. You name it, he could build it. There were a couple of projects that hadn't found a home yet, which I coveted for our house.

I was apparently not inconspicuous in my want of the two bedside tables and book case, because the next day they were at the house. We barely had room for them in our tiny bedroom until the remodeling had been completed, but they were there. Jacob had told Billy of our plans to enlarge the house and he was in complete agreement. The remodeling would take place as soon as Victoria was taken care of.

Monday had come and gone with that dinner at Paul's house. Rachel had only moved in the week before Mina had died, so they were still working out a couple of kinks of living together. There was a bit of tension when we first showed up, mostly Rachel being slightly uncomfortable as we stepped into the house.

I realized that Paul had made the age old mistake of informing the 'wife' that company was coming over shortly before they arrived. Her panic was quickly smothered by a hug from her brother, something she hadn't had in years. The distance Rachel herself had created when she left as quickly as she could after her high school graduation, and then coming back to a brother that was changed by his false imprint was all wiped away in his warm embrace. I was the only one to catch his subtle hesitation before the hug took place, but I couldn't help but be proud of him for working through his issues.

I beamed a smile at Jacob when they stepped back from each other, and Rachel immediately chattered on about something, pulling Jacob further into their house as Paul rolled his eyes at me. I smacked Paul upside the head, scowling my disapproval at his behavior.

The rest of the meal passed in easy conversation. Afterwards, Paul and I got down to the nitty gritty of the finances for the workshop as well as pulling together the information needed for the Council meeting later in the week. Paul whistled after sifting through the paperwork I had asked Gramps for. Guess he found my personal finances. I still had no idea how much I was actually worth, but I guess now would be the time to find out.

Jacob used the time wisely to reconnect with his sister. Something he later told me he hadn't ever expected to be able to do. Jake had been missing both of his sisters and when Rachel came back and Paul imprinted on her, he was filled with a mix of sadness and joy. Sadness because he could only see Rachel, and not get near her, and joy, because she was back in his life, even if only at a distance. The anger that it was Paul that imprinted on Rachel was quickly overridden by the way she had easily dismissed Paul's initial advances.

XOX

Training between the Pack and the Demons settled into a routine pretty quickly as well. Once a day someone checked the borders, just to keep up appearances for the Council. Early evening, the pack would gather in the clearing near the workshop behind the Forks house to run battle simulations, and spar. We would sometimes be mixed teams, others demons versus pack, which wasn't as horrible a beat down as it was that first time.

The pack had learned how to best utilize their strengths and shored up their weaknesses. They were a better fighting unit as a team and it showed. It was amazing what could happen in a week with Gramps and Dad training them.

After the fighting was done for the evening, Gramps and Dad would take all the wolves through a series of meditation and relaxation techniques meant to help them find their inner wolves. This way they wouldn't have to be reliant on their anger as the way in which they phased. Once this finding of their inner wolves was accomplished, they were then able to communicate better with their wolf side, uniting the two halves to create a unified whole. Making for a more fluid change, and not the violent one that ripped clothes. After a few days, most of the wolves had gotten it down. Amazingly enough, it was Paul who got it first since he had thrown himself into the change the most and was already halfway to a peaceful union with his wolf.

Towards the end of the week, we were in the clearing, another training session going on, when I felt David and Matthew's approach. Their metal was familiar to me as it whispered their presence. I called everyone's attention from where they were all over the clearing. Leah was the closest to me since we had been working together with my hounds.

David and Matthew broke through the treeline, Matthew heading to Gramps as David walked towards me. Except for I realized he wasn't looking at me, he was headed to somewhere off to my left. I looked that way and saw Leah with a dumbfounded look on her face. _And another one bites the dust._

I elbowed Leah to get her brain back in gear. "Leah, this is David, David this is Leah."

David immediately swept Leah into his arms, rage making his height even more pronounced making Leah seem petite in his tree trunk arms. They immediately started making out. He assaulted her lips with his before yanking her into his arms. One of her legs hitched up and around his waist as he bent her backwards like some cheesy romance novel cover. He trailed his lips across her cheek and down her neck, nibbling delicately before sinking his fangs in deeply.

I wanted to look away to give them their privacy, but I just couldn't do it. Like a bad car crash, I was compelled to watch the two of them going at it. Before I knew it David had latched onto her shoulder with his fangs. I kept staring at David and Leah, knowing something was wrong with this picture but not quite sure what it was. The pieces slowly came together like puzzle pieces in my head.

David was biting Leah.

David's fangs were poisonous.

Leah was not immortal like other Demons.

David was killing Leah.

* * *

**Thanks again to all who review! You people are great!**


	25. Chapter 25: Information

**Hellhounds and Demons**

Chapter 25

Information

_Oh hell no._ She wasn't dying on my watch.

I pounced immediately, throwing a dagger, which smacked hilt first into his head, knocking his fangs from out of their perch in her skin. I popped my wings out and flapped once, getting enough height to go up and over Leah, taking David down to the ground. All of my daggers were quickly thrown, pinning him to the ground as I crouched over his chest. I leaned my weight heavily on him, pressing my sword against his throat. My lighter was out and ready for anything.

"Tell me why." I demanded, my sword slowly biting into his skin. Blood welled up and sluggishly streamed down his neck.

"Why what?" he croaked out, the movements of his throat as he talked pressed into my sword, causing more pain and blood. The whispers of metal as Dad and Gramps edged up, Matthew hovering behind.

"Why I don't kill you right now for biting her? You want to kill one of my best friends?" I asked in hisses and growls rather than actual words.

"Bells-" Gramps tried to intervene, but I hissed at him, letting my sword bite a bit deeper into David's neck.

"Not. Poisonous. Beloved." David managed to get out.

"Boss Lady," Leah said, "as touching as this is and all, can you get off my imprint?" I snapped my head around looking Leah in the eye. She nodded encouragingly at me.

"Your imprint's 'fangs' have poisoned me a time or two, so excuse me for trying to make sure he wasn't killing you." I smirked at her after looking her over to make sure there was no injury to her. The bite mark on her neck was already healing.

I looked back at David and crouched down so that we were nearly nose to nose and growled out to him, "You hurt her and I will end you. There is no place on earth that you could hide from me."

"I would never hurt my heartbeat." David said. I saw the steadfast promise in his eyes so I nodded before pushing off his chest. My eyes sought out Jacob's, and as soon as I found him, I headed over to him, needing the reassurances of being in his arms.

"So what's the intel from Seattle? What are we looking at?" Dad asked Matthew as David left with Leah in tow, headed for the Forks house.

"Victoria was getting sloppier as the days progressed. She has too many vampires under her to be able to hide them well within a city that size. There are forty newborns with ten older vamps to help her control them. But she had another ten turning in a warehouse near the docks." Growls rumbled from the pack.

"Alright, quiet down." Gramps said before flicking a lighter open. He started drawing a map of the Olympic Peninsula and Seattle with the fire, much like Dad had drawn La Push last week. "The most logical route for her to take would be to swing south around Puget Sound before heading North up to us along the coast. They don't have to breathe, but most of the newborns will panic if they have to be underwater for long periods of time.

"There are quite a few clearings that would serve well to meet her force, which Sam and I went over Sunday." Gramps continued, drawing more detail onto the map. "This one here is the best for what we need. It's deep in the forest, quite a bit off the beaten path. There are quite a few trees along the edge that Bella can launch from to take quite a few by surprise."

"That's all well and good," Matthew interrupted. "but how are we going to know when they're going to get there?"

"We're going to plant these." Gramps said, hauling out the spikes I had been working on. The urge to create them had been great this week. They were blooded and matched, all they needed was ground to be buried in.

"How are vampire repellents going to help us out?" Sam asked.

"These won't act like the Boundary Markers." I started to explain. This week had been full of research that the pack didn't know about. Gramps had given me the old diaries of my great-great-grandmother, the last female fire demon. A lot of things became clear on blooded metal. What it could and couldn't do. "Boundary Markers have to be close enough to each other and are bound to a specific spike. The spike at Billy's house is the key spike for the La Push Markers.

"When there are spikes buried further out, they work more as a warning system. They cover a larger amount of area since they are there to warn, not there to repel. That was why those vamps were able to attack Dad on Sunday instead of being repelled. We only have to bury these in twenty mile intervals."

"How do we get Victoria into the clearing?" Paul asked. "It seems like there's a lot of land for her to go through for this particular spot."

"Scent." Matthew said. "They had something in a bag that they passed around every once in awhile, taking turns with it. Must be whatever they're after."

"It's something of Bella's." Dad answered. Jacob's arms tightened around me as his chest vibrated with his growls. His growls were in harmony with the rest of the pack.

"How do you know that?" I asked.

"Got it out of the scouts that were sent." Dad answered. "They were sent to see if they could find more scent carriers to take back as well as gather any info on the pack."

"We're going to leave a scent trail that will be just too good to not follow." Gramps said.

"How?" I asked, knowing this would be something I would have to deal with.

"You're going to have to bleed a little bit, firebug." Gramps said.

Jacob immediately put me behind him and adopted a defensive stance before growling out, "Over my dead body."

"Relax, Jacob," Dad said as I laid a hand over Jacob's shoulder. I wasn't sure if it was my hand or Dad's next words that calmed him down. "We're only going to need a couple of drops every ten miles or so."

"Besides, she can fly the route, keeping her completely out of harm's way." Gramps said.

"We'll leave a blood trail that will have the newborns rabid and hard to control." Gramps continued. "The older vamps will be paying more attention to trying to control them rather than noticing where we'll lead them.

"We'll funnel them through this pass" Gramps said as he lit up the areas he was indicating brighter than the others, "and into the clearing, which is tear shaped. It'll make it easier for us to rip and burn as they come through in small numbers rather than dealing with the bulk of them."

The rest of the pack seemed to relax as they took in this information. I could see Gramps logic in the way he thought about the different angles. This had his brand of organized chaos stamped all over it. The newborns being out of control would mean that they would be harder to put down, but in lowered numbers gave us a better chance to take them out methodically with less chance of injuries to our side.

"Any other questions?" Gramps asked.

There was silence from everyone. "Alright then," he continued, "don't you all have a meeting you're supposed to be at tonight?"

All of the pack startled and scrambled. Dad and I were expected at the meeting, but the pack was required to set up some things before hand. The highly anticipated tribe meeting was going to be taking place tonight.

Jacob kissed my forehead quickly before releasing me and running off after the rest of the pack. The howls carried off into the distance as Dad and I headed towards the house where my truck was parked. The drive to La Push was quick, filled with conversation about fight strategy and situations. The conversation soon morphed into hypothetical fights with creatures other than vampires.

Dad had been teaching me more about the supernatural world. Everything I was 'missing', he had been drilling into my head, trying to catch me up on twenty years of learning. He gave the pack the cliff's notes version, but expected me to memorize and regurgitate the more, in detail info at any moment. Since we had so recently had an experience with an empousa, that was what Dad had been concentrating on. I learned more about them than I really wanted to. The examples of how they could torture and eventually drain a person of life had me holding onto Jake a little bit tighter, grateful he lived through his experience with Mina.

I dropped Dad off at the Clearwaters and headed home to take a quick shower. After I got dressed in a clean pair of leathers, I walked back over to Dad and Sue's to walk over to the tribal community center. It was the only building big enough to hold the whole tribe.

Dad and Sue walked up to the stage to join Billy and some of the other council members. I walked over to where the pack was sitting and sat down between Jake and Quil. Leah was there with David and they both looked a little worse for wear. There were some healing hickeys and scratches, but they would be gone by the end of the meeting.

Angela was hanging onto Embry, looking like she had given into the imprint fully. I beamed at her when she looked over at me. Her shy smile made me think of the conversation we had had earlier in the week about imprints, demons, and wolves. I was glad to have put to rest a lot of her fears.

Most of the meeting was boring for me. Going over information that I had known for a while. Dad filled in any missing information about shapeshifters in general as well as vampires and other supernatural creatures. There was a bit of explanation needed for Jacob's false imprint as well as what exactly an Empousa was. Some people had been concerned with what had happened on the beach with Lauren. Dad explained what we were and how our family's history had been entwined with the Quileute people's.

Someone asked for a further demonstration of our abilities to control fire and I threw a fireball at Dad without any prompting. I had been trying to catch him off guard for the last couple of days, and have as of yet to be successful. This time was just as unlucky as the last. All of the pack snickered at my attempt as Dad threw it right back at me. I caught it and let it disperse into nothing.

I perked up though when Billy mentioned a need for a tribe vote. "We have a proposal that has been made by one of our tribe members to our council. The council is in agreement on this plan, but we would like for the tribe members to have a say since it will affect all of them. Charlie, if you would like to explain the proposal?"

Dad nodded and stood before the tribe, "My daughter, Bella, would like to start a learning metalshop here in La Push. My dad has a workshop that is attached to the University of Montana. We can do the same here with an attachment for the University of Washington. I've spoken to some of the administrative staff from the University and they would like to tour the properties and the proposed site before confirming, but they are very interested."

"This would mean that there would be the income from the learning metalshop, plus the added tourism during the off season. The plan is to create workshops, both short term and long term to take advantage of the off season when there will be more vacancies in the resort."

Dad continued to talk in more detail about the proposal, some of which I hadn't heard of before. Dad, Billy, and Sue had obviously fleshed this out a bit more since the last time we had talked about it. There were descriptions of classes, proposals for which property to be used, and possible additional workshops to be offered once this got off the ground. Some of the additional workshops would be cultural studies including some of the traditional tribal arts and crafts. There would be woodworking, basket and blanket weaving just to start out with. The facility plans had been expanded so that the tribal school could take advantage of them as well.

The proposal was thorough and well thought out. I was so glad that Dad had taken this on. He had really breathed life into the project.

"And who's going to be paying for this?" a dissenter interrupted.

"The Swan family will put up the capital for the start up costs as has been outlined by Mr. Lahote's financial plan." Dad indicated a board that I hadn't even noticed before. Paul did some good work.

"But why would you go to so much effort?" the dissenter continued.

"This is his way of offering five prize horses for the woman he wants to marry." Billy interrupted as the crowd chuckled a bit. Dad's face flushed as he glanced over at Sue who was beaming at him.

There were quiet murmurings as Dad finished outlining the proposal. The whispers were out of my hearing range, so I was unable to tell if they were positive or negative. Jacob squeezed my hand and when I looked up at him, he winked and gave me his sunny smile. I was reassured that the murmurings were positive.

Billy spoke up when Dad finished, "We'll put it to a vote by hands, all those who would like to go forward with this new project, raise your hands."

Nearly all the hands in the room went up. "All those who object?"

There wasn't a hand that went up. "Approved. Building will start as soon as confirmation with the University comes through."

"Before we are done for the night, I'd like to announce a potlatch and official welcoming ceremony to be held this Saturday. It will be for one of our imprints who is from another tribe, to officially recognize her as one of our own. We also have a couple of imprints that are of non-Native descent that we will be welcoming as well." Billy said. "We will be welcoming Emily Young, Bella Swan, and Angela Weber on Saturday."

Cheers from the wolf pack rang out creating a cacophony of sound that was hard to quiet so Billy could continue. "We hope you all will come and join us as we celebrate and welcome these three into our family and into our hearts."

I tried to surreptitiously wipe the tears from the corners of my eyes, but Jacob caught me, and pulled me into his arms. His lap was a warm comfort as I just basked in the love and acceptance I had from all these wonderful people. Some I hadn't even met before, were still crying out in welcome. Going from feeling so alone, to having all these people who cared about me was almost more than I could handle as the tears leaked out of my eyes.

Most of the crowd dispersed after the noise died down, only some staying to ask further questions. Dad, Billy, Sue, Old Quil, and some of the other council members were surrounded. I watched as Leah hauled David through the crowds by his hand, winding their way to Sue. Sue turned to the two of them when Leah tapped her on the shoulder and it looked like Leah was introducing David to her mother. Leah was hugged first, then David as Sue beamed and dragged them over to Dad.

I knew what was coming next, so I nudged Jacob, nodding in the direction of Dad and Sue, "Watch, Dad's going to get in trouble."

Quil, Embry and Angela were standing by us and directed their attention as well. After a few moments of conversation with Sue and Dad, Sue smacked Dad over the back of the head. Sue's exclamation rang out over the other noise in the hall, "And you didn't tell me!"

The five of us burst out laughing, watching as Dad tried to calm down Sue. Whatever he said worked, since she visibly relaxed almost instantly. Dad glared over at our group as our laughter became chuckles. I would never wonder again where Leah's attitude came from, apparently it was all Sue.

Jacob and I walked over to Dad to say good night before heading home. Embry's mom, Tiffany Call, was talking with Dad when we walked up to them. We weren't trying to listen in on the conversation, but it was hard not to as Tiffany said, "You said that there were other tribes with shapeshifting abilities. Were the S'Klallam or Makah tribes one of them?"

"Yes, the S'Klallam tribe was shifting about a hundred years ago or so." Dad replied calmly. I could see Tiffany's face relax at the news.

"Mom? Why are you asking about the S'Klallam tribe?" Embry asked as he walked up with Angela in tow.

"Because I'm half Makah, half S'Klallam. I was just curious about how you became a shapeshifter." Tiffany answered.

"We figured I was half Quileute." Embry said. His face was a stone mask, keeping the pain and frustration from showing.

"No, baby, apparently it comes through my mother's side of the family." she answered.

"Oh," Embry paused for a moment before asking, "Then why don't you ever talk about my father?"

Tiffany's gaze darted around at the faces of the small crowd before stuttering out, "Baby, I-I was raped. I don't know who your father was." At that point those of us who weren't part of the Call family turned to give them a moment of privacy. Jacob and I hugged Dad and said our goodbyes, not wanting to intrude further. We made our way over to Billy and made sure he had a ride home before going home ourselves.

The ride was quiet as we contemplated a lot of the new information we had gained over the day. The house was silent as we entered, a welcoming warmth as we turned on lights and made our way to the back of the house. We both got ready for bed in companionable silence. It wasn't until I was kicking off my last article of clothing that Jacob snapped out of whatever funk he was in as he tumbled me into bed and followed me quickly after.

Jake attacked my lips with his and I was instantly enraptured by his heat and his taste. Our hearts pounded in sync as we sank into the moment, enjoying the give and take, push and pull, trying to find that perfect angle. I wove my fingers into his hair as he pulled me in tighter, keeping my body flush against his. Warmth from his hands spread over my skin as they took separate directions, one to knot in my hair, the other to grab my ass, pulling my hips into his. The kiss slowed down to lazily lick, suck, nibble and sigh at each entreaty.

I couldn't stop the shivers as he left my lips to slowly make his way to my earlobe, biting and nipping softly. A slightly damp trail was left in his wake as he continued on down my neck. Toes curling from pleasure, I tightened my fingers in Jacob's hair, knowing where he was headed, encouraging him in that direction.

His name trembled on my lips and he bit and thrust, throwing me into an orgasm that made colors burst on the insides of my eyelids. I forgot to breathe as the sensations threw me higher and higher. When things came back into focus, Jacob was still teeth and dick deep. He started up a rhythm that had shivers running up and down my spine. My hips met his as I scraped my claws down his back, the skin breaking and healing instantaneously.

Warmth from Jacob's roving hands left trails of goose bumps in their wake. He continued to thrust sharply, hitting a spot deep inside me that quickly sent me back into the atmosphere, screaming his name as he growled into my neck. I tightened and throbbed on his cock, creating a reaction of his own. He thrust a couple more times faster and rougher than before, prolonging and pushing my orgasm that much higher.

A groan slipped from my lips as he slipped his teeth and cock from my flesh. We both just breathed heavily, holding each other tightly.

"I can't lose you." Jacob said, breaking the silence between us.

I opened my eyes to see him hovering over me, "Baby, nothing will part us." I said trying to reassure him.

"It's just kinda hitting me." Jake said, his forehead wrinkling in concern. "We're going to have to fight. Yeah, we've been training, but that's been fun in and of itself. But the plans we made today really showed me how much is really at stake. There's a crazy ass bitch out for your blood."

"True, but between you, the Pack, the Demons, the familiars and me? They don't stand a chance. And knowing you, Dad, and Gramps, you'll have me all tucked up somewhere so that I don't get to see as much action as the rest of you will. Besides, from Gramps' plan, it seems like it will be a conveyor belt of rip and burn."

"I just wish it was over already." Jacob continued. "Over so that we can get on with our lives. The way it was meant to be."

"The hardest part is the waiting." I said, trying to comfort him.

"I want to get away when this is all over and done with. A little vacation, just you and me?" Jacob asked.

"That sounds wonderful, Baby," I said.

"Some time to ourselves to just be. No Pack, no Demons, no nothing. Just you and me."

"And a bed?" I asked giggling. There better be a fucking bed.

"Of course there will be a bed!" Jacob said as he rolled us over and tickled my ribs. I couldn't stop myself from squirming and laughing on top of him as his fingers found every vulnerable spot. His sunny smile reflected the joy and happiness of the moment.

When he finally let me catch my breath, I reached up and cupped his cheek, saying "Jacob William Black, I love and adore you. I'm so fucking glad you're in my life."

"Isabella Marie Swan, I love and adore you just as much if not more. And I am so glad you came back into my life. I would be lost without you."


	26. Chapter 26: Sweat

**Hellhounds and Demons**

Chapter 26

Heat

Most of Friday was spent on wolf back, planting the sentinel spikes roughly along the route we expected Victoria to come. We accounted for a very large path that the leeches might take, which meant that we had to cover all that area. Dad, Gramps, and I each took at least ten spikes to bury.

Dad, Paul and Jared had covered the area closest to Seattle. Jacob, Quil, Embry and I had taken the area closest to La Push, and Gramps and Sam had taken the area in the middle. My section, since it was closer to La Push, was larger, since I would have to cover less territory once finished. By the fifteenth and last spike, I was exhausted.

Once we got back home, I immediately crashed, sleeping for a good four hours. When I woke up, Sue was sitting there, staring at me. I think she willed me awake with the force of her stare. "Wha'?" I asked groggily, trying to rub the sleep from my eyes.

"No more food until tomorrow. And drink this tea." Sue said, pushing a bag of herbs into my hand.

"Huh?" I asked eloquently, still trying to get my brain to engage.

"Drink this tea. I'll be by in the morning to collect you."

"Why?" I asked. Yay, more than a grunt.

"Has to do with the welcoming ceremony tomorrow." Sue answered cryptically.

"Oh. Anything else?" I wondered if I could get more information out of Jacob. Flirting usually got me info.

"Nope, but I will be over early in the morning for you." Sue said as she got up and walked towards the door.

"How early is early?" I asked.

"Sunrise." she said before disappearing out the door.

I got up, showered and got dressed, before heading outside to the garage. Jacob had been slowly clearing it out, getting it ready for expansion. He was uncomfortable with the idea of me working out of the Forks workshop and was converting the garage into a makeshift workshop for me.

As I walked to the garage, I walked over the Key Spike and the circle of Blades. A shiver ran up my spine and I could feel the Boundary Markers and the Sentry Spikes like a pulse before fading slowly to be a low hum in the background of my mind. I collapsed to the ground in an inelegant sprawl, listening to the metal hum and whisper, telling me it's secrets, revealing new capabilities.

The feel of Jacob walking over the Blade Circle made tingles crawl up my spine as the whispering intensified. My eyes popped open, having never noticed that I had closed them, and I said to him, "You're going to make a great Alpha someday. Not tomorrow, but soon."

"Really? And you know this because?" Jacob said with a quirk to his eyebrow.

"Metal whispers. And metal's never wrong." I looked around at the circle. "I want to build my workshop here."

"Right here?" Jacob asked.

"Well, next to the Blade Circle." I said, the metal on me shivering in affirmation.

"Any specific reason?" he asked.

"It said to?" I said, the end of it turning into a question. I was still unsure of how well he would take it when I said metal whispers. His reactions so far had been pretty accepting, but I didn't want to assume that they would always be so.

"Alright, we'll build your workshop here." Jacob said as he swung me up into his arms. He smacked a kiss to my lips before we walked back to the house.

We spent the rest of the day relaxing and hanging out. I had tried to get more info about the welcoming ceremony, but Jacob's lips were tighter than Fort Knox. Flirting did nothing, I was even tempted to use sex as a form of barter before realizing that could bring up some really bad memories for Jacob. We ended up cuddling on the couch while Charlie and Billy argued over the Mariner's game. They had ordered pizza, while I drank my tea.

I woke just before sunrise, like a little kid who knows they're going to Disneyland. Not more than ten minutes later, Leah busted through the door, startling Jacob and causing our hearts to pound. Jacob was shaking a bit as he growled and pushed me behind him, keeping me from danger. Leah ignored him as she immediately started digging through my clothes, tossing a few items onto the bed as she found them.

"Get up, get dressed, you've got five minutes." she winked before bustling out the door.

"Was she this much of a morning person before she imprinted?" I asked before kissing Jacob's shoulder before climbing over his hulking frame to get dressed.

Jacob fell back into bed, tension leaking out of him and answered, "No, she wasn't, but then again she's been a lot more cheerful all around since yesterday."

"Let's hope it doesn't wear off." I said, pulling the last bit of clothing on.

A feeling of vulnerability washed over me when I realized she hadn't included any of my blades. I fingered the wrist holsters, wondering if I could get away with wearing them anyways when Leah yelled out, "No blades!"

I looked over at Jacob who was wearing a grin. "How did she know? Are you giving her information?"

"No, Bells. You're just predictable like that." He said.

I leaned over and smacked a kiss to his lips, dodging out of his arms quickly as he tried to pull me in for something more substantial. "I have to go. I'll see you later tonight?"

"Of course you will. Wouldn't miss your welcoming ceremony for the world." Jacob said as he drifted back to sleep.

I made my way to the living room, where Leah met me with a cup of tea freshly prepared. "Drink this while we walk."

We headed towards the tribal community center where the meeting was on Thursday. Near the woods that the center butted up next to was set up a dome like tent that was covered in hides and canvas. Leah and I met up with Sue, Emily, and Angela outside of the tent.

"Ladies, we are going to be starting a sweat lodge ceremony. We will be doing this to symbolize the release of the old life you have lived and to start your new life as a Quileute." Sue went on to describe the different sessions we would be taking and the meaning behind them. She also explained that our 'mates' would be also participating but in a separate sweat, so as to create a comfortable environment for all parties.

King, Demon, and Brimstone ambled up to our group as Sue gave us our lecture on proper respect and attitude to bring with us while in the tent. She gave all three of them a dirty look as Brimstone leaned up against my leg and the other two nipped and licked at my fingers. I guess they would be coming with us.

The lecture was soon over and we all drank plenty of water before entering into the tent when we were ready. I was kind of confused when Leah entered into the tent along with us since she was not one of those being welcomed into the tribe, but figured it was something she felt she needed to do.

The heat and the darkness was soothing to me, and Sue started the ceremony with a prayer. We went through four rounds each time talking openly and candidly about subjects Sue introduced. The five of us discussed our past hurts, our present issues, and our hopes for our futures. It was a time of healing and comradery. Leah and Emily even discussed their shared past and how it had damaged each of them.

Emily spoke of how much it hurt her to hurt Leah that way. Especially when they couldn't explain imprinting to her. She had almost been relieved when Leah had shifted so that she could at least explain, but that seemed to hurt Leah even worse.

Leah confessed to never quite understanding how deep a draw imprinting was. Even though she saw it in the guys heads, it never really made sense. It seemed to be one of those you have to feel it to understand it things. She spoke to Emily of how in hindsight, the way that things happened were necessary, and they worked out better than her own plans. Emily was a better fit for Sam and she understood that there really was someone out there just for her in David. They let it be a time to open the old wounds, heal, and put it behind them.

Sue had confessed that even though she had loved her husband, she had always been drawn to Charlie. She talked about her shame and her fear, that she was not giving all of herself to her husband, to the one she had pledged her life to. She and Harry had been great friends, and Harry was aware of her infatuation with Charlie. The social pressures to marry and reproduce within the tribe were overwhelming for them, which was why they had married in the first place. Her parents would have never allowed her to marry Charlie.

This lead to a discussion of how accepted Angela and I would be in the tribe. That times had changed since Harry and Sue had married, and it would not be as difficult to become integrated. The pack being an open secret among the tribe and their place as imprints would only encourage their acceptance. There would still be prejudice but nothing like it was before.

The silence was a time for contemplation for me, and I jumped at the chance to really search my heart and really think about the path that has gotten me here. When the other ladies shared so much of their hearts, willingly and openly, I felt compelled to do the same. I shared how I had been drawn into the Cullen family. How I had been dazzled and nearly addicted to them. How I was willing to give up everything, just to be like them. To give up my family, my friends, my life.

I also explained a bit more about cold and heat in a demon's life. Why having a heart encased in ice, especially having not reached maturity, had been such a dangerous issue for me. I shared with them what Gramps had done to bring me out of the depression that I had been mired in. The hellhounds just cuddled in tighter as I explained their own part in my healing.

At the end of our four rounds we exited from the domed tent feeling lighter and freer than we all had in awhile. The joy and release were written across our faces as we guzzled down more water. Sue told us we had a little bit more and we would be done until the potlatch and bonfire later this evening. We followed her as she headed towards the beach, which was only a short walk from where we were.

Leah nudged me, and whispered, "why aren't you all sweaty and gross like the rest of us?"

"Um, fire demon?" I whispered back, "Can't make a fire hot enough to make me sweat? Only physical exertion will make me sweat."

"Huh, guess that makes it a bit of a plus when you cozy up to a hot shapeshifter?" she said grinning at me.

"Mmmhmm, he's definitely hot," I hummed my agreement with a huge grin on my face.

The five of us took a quick dip in the ocean, giving the other four a chance to cool down from the intense heat of the sweat lodge. Sue gave us instructions to meet at her house just before the potlatch started and we would walk over together. We parted ways soon after, Leah and I having made plans for her to come over to get ready

The house was silent as I made my way to the bedroom, ready for a nap with the hellhounds. I quickly drifted off to sleep as the days events caught up to me. At some point Jacob must have joined me because when I woke up, his intoxicating warmth was wrapped around me.

I breathed in his scent, reveling in the comfort and rightness of our bond. The beat of our hearts enthralled me as I sank deeper into the connection, solidifying and reinforcing our link. The satin of his skin tickled the tips of my fingers as I gently mapped out the muscles in his forearms. Even in his relaxed state, he had more hills and valleys as each of his muscles were clearly delineated.

I laced my fingers through his, bringing his hand up to my mouth and tracing kisses across his knuckles. The salt of his skin lingered on my lips and tongue as I sucked one of his callus heavy fingers into my mouth.

His deep inhalation disturbed my hair before his arm tightened around me, pulling me with him as he rolled over onto his back. Jacob's jaw cracked as he yawned, stretching out his arms above his head, his ribcage expanding with his deep breath. Warm brown irises met mine when he settled back, smacking his lips.

It was moments like this that reminded me of how much larger Jacob was than me. His wide shoulders and chest were more than ample enough for me to lay on without fear of rolling off. Nose to nose with him, and my toes just barely stretched beneath his kneecaps. I'm not particularly short, but with the immense height difference, I felt like a shrimp.

"You make a comfy mattress," I couldn't help but blurt out.

"And you make a soft blanket." He replied, his sunny smile breaking out over his face as a hand caressed my back.

"What time is it?" I asked, casting about, looking for the clock.

"Time for more snuggling." Jacob said as he wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me even tighter, burying his nose in my hair.

"We have somewhere to be tonight." I said, trying to wiggle out of his arms.

"Yes, you have to be right here, right now." he said, flipping me over and pouncing on me.

Jacob's fingers found the sensitive sides of my rib cage, causing me to squirm and laugh as he found tickle spot after tickle spot. I tried to tell him to stop, but I was too out of breath with laughing to get the words out. There was only one thing to do.

I opened up my connection to the hounds and called them to me. Demon tricked open the door, and the three of them piled on top of us, licking Jacob anywhere they could reach. Wiggling out from underneath Jacob, I took advantage of his distraction, and got up out of bed.

"Bells," I heard a muffled groan from Jacob, "help!"

"Boys, off of Jacob now." I said, finally finding the clock. We had an hour to get ready before I needed to leave for Sue's house.

Jacob wrapped me up in a hug before kissing me on my head, "Not cool, Bells, using an unfair advantage."

"I have to use every advantage I have. Gramps taught me that." I said with a cheeky grin and a wink.

"But not against me!" Jacob mock pouted.

"Oh, poor Jake, got licked by a bunch of hounds." I patted him on the cheek in false sympathy. "Toughen up Jakey baby, the other wolves will have you for lunch."

I couldn't stop the shriek that tumbled from my lips as Jacob pulled me up into his arms and threw me on the bed. He followed shortly after, caging me with his body. "And who's going to save you from this Big Bad Wolf?" he growled in my ear.

"Oh, Mr. Wolf, sir, are you going to eat me?" I purred, looking up at him through my lashes, batting them a few times.

"Only if you're a really good girl." He growled before hopping up and pulling me with him. "Shower?"

"Yes, please." I said. "Leah's going to be here in about a half hour."

Jake just nodded as he pulled me along towards the bathroom. We tried to shower quickly, only getting a little distracted when Jacob offered to wash my back, which then turned into washing my front, which then just devolved into him groping my breasts while we made out. Luckily the hot water ran out, reminding us of how much time we had wasted.

I dressed quickly in the halter top leathers that had been modified to accommodate my wings. Matthew had promised to take a look at them and modify, or if need be remake, the tops that wouldn't work. Hopefully, it wasn't going to take too much to modify what I already had.

I wolf whistled when Jacob walked by in an itty-bitty white towel, "uh, Babe, I think that qualifies as a hand towel, not a regular towel."

Jacob just arched an eyebrow at me over his shoulder before letting the towel drop. His delectable ass was on display as he rummaged through the chest of drawers in search of clothing.

"Geezis, put it away, Black!" I heard from the doorway. Leah was standing there with a hand over her eyes. "Is it safe to look?"

"Yes, Leah. You can look now." I sighed as the beautiful vision of a naked Jacob was covered by clothes. Naked time would be in my future, but unfortunately not now.

"Whew, alright, Bells, let's get you purty!" Leah said, opening her bag of tricks. We chatted as she did my makeup, Jacob hightailing it out of there when we started in on the girl talk. He pecked me on the cheek before mumbling something about meeting at the Clearwater's.

Leah and I quickly finished getting ready and then walked back to Leah's house. Or is it Dad's house now? Who knows, it's the Clearwater's house.

We met up with all the others and headed towards Second Beach. A place that was harder to get to, and therefore not as open to the public. There was a PA system hooked up to a portable generator and there was music playing softly in the background. Like the week before, there was tons of food.

Everyone grabbed a plate and while we were eating, Jacob introduced me to a lot of the members of the tribe that I hadn't met before. Quite a few of them I had heard about in passing conversations with the pack, but never put a face to a name. It seemed like everyone in the tribe was wanting to meet and extend their acceptance to me. I saw that Angela and Leah were undergoing the same thing with their mates as well.

After all the food had been cleared away, the pack members cleaning up all the leftovers, Billy called forward those each of the new members. I was surprised that not only was Angela, Emily, and I called, Dad and David were called forward as well. I guess that's why Leah had been part of the sweat ceremony. She must have been undergoing it just as her mate had.

There was a small ceremony, where we were given gifts as new members of the tribe. Billy had presented the gifts to us before Old Quil chanted a blessing while wafting burning herbs over us. When that was done, Billy turned to the gathered crowd and announced our acceptance. There was a lot of clapping and wolf whistles from the pack.


	27. Chapter 27: Defend

**Hellhounds and Demons**

Chapter 27

Defend

After the ceremony, the crowd broke up and started dancing. Jacob hauled me over to the edge of the makeshift dance floor and swayed with me back and forth. "Finally, I get you alone for a bit." he said.

"You get me alone to yourself quite a bit Mr. Wolf, sir." I said with a smile.

"It's never enough." Jacob said as he dipped me over his arm. We continued to dance and sway slowly, enjoying the time to be just 'Jake and Bells'.

Too soon, we were interrupted by a throat clearing. I turned to see Matthew standing there patiently. "Ready to be measured?"

"Yeah. Jake, where's the bag I had you bring?" I asked.

"I left it over by the speakers."

"Can you get it? Matthew's going to make some adjustments to the clothing in the bag." I couldn't stop staring at Jake as he melted into the crowd.

"You know he's coming back soon, right?" Matthew said, a teasing light in his eyes.

"Yeah, but I like being right with him." I sighed.

"Alright, let's see your wings, girl." Matthew said as I popped them out.

I was glad we were on the edge of the crowd, away from a lot of the others. As it was, there were a couple of gasps from those who had yet to see the wings. They were black in color, and the skin hanging tautly from the ribs was slightly scaly. The ribs themselves were made up of very fine bones, wrapped heavily in muscle. Furthest from my body, the ribs and muscles were about the size of my pinky. Where they extended from my back between my shoulderblades and spine, they were about the thickness of my bicep. The taut skin of the wings attached further down my back.

"Very nice." Matthew said as he started measuring how far down my spine the wings went. He lightly grazed one of the ribs and I flinched away from him. "Sensitive?"

"Very, please don't tickle." I said as he grasped one of them firmly in his hand, twisting and turning it.

"I have something for you." He said quietly.

"But-"

"What did we say about gifts?" Matthew interrupted.

"Thank you, Matthew. Remind me to give you a few pretties when you next come to the workshop." I said with a bit of annoyance tinging my tone.

Matthew chuckled. "Now you're getting the idea. This might feel weird at first, but just let yourself adjust for a moment before you have me remove them."

"What is it?" I asked when I felt pressure along the right rib in the section closest to my body. There were two joints in my wings, sort of like elbows that divided the wings and gave me flexibility while flapping. I looked over my shoulder to see what it was Matthew had clamped on the rib and saw leather covering the rib. There was intricate tooling along the edges, making it look sort of like lace. Matthew continued to clamp them onto the ribs, with a separate piece for the 'elbows'.

The pressure was easily put out of my mind as Matthew started on the other wing. I experimented with the covered wing, flapping and twisting it about. There was no lost mobility in the wing. "Armor. Stop moving about." Matthew chided.

"But it feels good." I pouted at him. "They like to stretch."

"You able to take off from standing yet?" David asked, walking up to us with Leah in tow.

"Haven't had that much time to experiment." I answered as I felt the last of the armor clamp around the end of my left wing rib.

"Rumor around the bonfire is that you're going to fight with the protectors." David drawled out. "But no one knows how such a little girl like you is going to fight off vampires."

"They don't have to know now, they'll find out in time." I said, not too worried as I continued to look at the armor as it flexed and molded to my wings.

"I'm a little impatient. Let's show them what you can do. Defend yourself." David and Matthew both drew their swords as I grabbed my own. This was rather reminiscent of the last two weeks in Montana. Where David and Matthew would take it upon themselves to ambush me at any moment, trying to catch me off guard.

I whistled for the Hellhounds as I defended myself from David and Matthew easily. Both of them cursed under their breath as they heard the answering howl. I opened myself up to the metal, using the whispers that they spoke to me to gauge distance, my first priority to keep the fight away from the crowd. I felt Dad come up behind me, and tried to ascertain if he was there to help or hinder.

_Hinder it was_, I thought to myself as Dad swung at the exposed skin of my wings, failing as I snapped them inside my body quickly.

It was a blur of defense and offense, relying heavily on my affinity for metal to predict where they were going to be. I opened myself up to the connection I had with the hellhounds, realizing they were taking longer to get her than I expected. They had been waylaid by Nico and Demus, which was fine for me.

Gramps waded into the fight, adding his sword to the balance. I was heavily outnumbered and not used to fighting this many people at once. Pushing the fear and worry to the back of my mind, I pushed forward, flipping from offense to defense in a dance that was one step away from carnage.

_Up_, King whispered.

Jacob's energy was directly behind Matthew, unhappily watching. I broke through David and Matthew and ran to where he was standing and used his crossed arms as a springboard, snapping my wings out and catching air as I took to the sky. Pulling out a few daggers, I threw them at Dad, taking him out of the action, at least temporarily. My lighter was in hand, sparking before bursting out a plume of fire, nearly engulfing David and Matthew.

Gramps was edging towards the crowd, so I quickly wrapped a stream of fire around him, causing the people there to back away quickly. Gramps had a nasty habit of taking hostages, and I wasn't about to let him close enough to nab one.

Gramps and Dad threw some fireballs of their own at me, but I quickly dodged them just as well as the daggers David and Matthew threw.

_Coming_, King whispered through our connection. I saw them wending their way through the crowd, swiftly but silently, and timed my descent to match their arrival.

_Ready?_ I asked the three. At their affirmation, I threw large fireballs just in front of the hellhounds, covering their approach. Before Gramps, David and Matthew knew what was going on, King, Demon, and Brimstone had their teeth in their throats. I also threw a fireball at Dad, which he barely had time to deflect before I landed on his chest.

All four of them were on the ground, me crouching over Dad's prone form when I growled out, "Yield!"

Hisses came from the Demons, but they yielded just as I expected them to.

I fought off a moment of vertigo as I was immediately swung up into a pair of extremely warm arms. Jacob was touching every inch of my skin, presumably to check for injuries. I bit back a scream as he found a dagger embedded in the flesh of my thigh.

"When did that get there?" I moaned. The pain increasing as my adrenaline levels started dropping down.

"Probably when you were in the air. I think David threw this one at you." Jacob said, laying me down in the sand so he could get a better look at it. "Light please, Bells?"

I pulled a small fireball from the flames still crackling near where Gramps was and directed it to hover near Jacob's head. The light revealed one of David's daggers embedded in my thigh, with trails of blood seeping down my leg. Dad and Gramps moved in to hover just over Jacob's shoulder.

"It doesn't hurt too bad now, why don't I just yank it out?" I said, grasping the handle.

Just as I began pulling it from my thigh, Dad and Gramps both yelled out a "No" but it was too late, I had already done the deed.

It took a moment to hit me, but the pain was excruciating. My eyes screwed shut and I bit my lip trying to keep the scream that was begging to come out, locked away. The previous pain was multiplied by at least ten, making me nearly shake with pain. My muscles clenched, only causing the agony to ratchet up even further.

The pain subsided as my body's own healing abilities started to work their magic. I could hear Gramps and Dad arguing but wasn't quite sure what it was they were arguing about. "Seriously, you two? Stop arguing and commence with the making me feel better!"

Jacob had wrapped me up in his arms, with me sitting on his lap. My arms were pinned to my side, probably so that I wouldn't do anything stupid again, like pull a dagger out of my thigh.

Dad turned away from Gramps and flicked a lighter on. "Jacob, spit on the wound and hold her still."

Jacob followed his direction and I braced myself, knowing what would come next. The heat from the fireball was intense, burning into my skin, muscle and bone. As the heat dissipated, I was left with just a general feeling of soreness in the muscle.

"Why?" I asked between panting breaths. Trying to concentrate on anything other than the pain in my thigh.

"Why what?" Dad asked.

"Spit. Burn." I gritted out, as my body continued to dissipate the heat. I distracted myself by watching the hellhounds as they danced around Jacob and I. I mentally congratulated them on a job well done while scratching their heads lightly when they brushed up against my hands. We had been practicing that trick for a couple of days now.

"Shifters have healing power in their saliva. That's why they lick the marks they make on their mates. I just accelerated that with the fire." Dad answered.

"So we could use that method on others?" Jacob asked as I finally caught my breath.

"Nope, the fire I used is hotter than anyone else can stand. It would cook flesh from bone in seconds flat. Bells is probably the only one here who we can do this to since the healing ability is only shared between mates."

"What about David?" I asked. "He can handle higher temperatures as a Demon. I've hit him with fireballs that he just walked through."

"It's hotter than even David could stand." Gramps said. "Just be happy we can do this for you."

"Sucks for him then." I mumbled. "I see why you guys didn't want me to pull the dagger out." I said as I picked up the up and gulped seeing the wicked looking barbs along the edge. No wonder Dad and Gramps were eager to have me healed up quickly. It would have taken quite a while for me to heal from this.

"Hey, David!" I hollered at him. He was standing a few feet away with Leah wrapped around him as if he was the pole and she was the dancer.

"Yeah?" David hollered back, both of them moving closer so that we didn't have to yell.

"You're fixing this!" I said, fingering the whole where his dagger had pierced the leather.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll get to it."

I sniffed at the dagger before asking, "Did you put your venom on the dagger?"

"Yeah, every advantage Bella, your Dad taught me that." He smirked.

"I'm borrowing this. I want to see if I can replicate it." I said, not really giving him a choice.

"Not a problem." He said, tucking his face into Leah's neck.

"Did the fight do what you wanted it to?" I asked, knowing he could listen in better than I could. His sense of hearing was just as good if not better than the pack's.

"Yeah, no one's really questioning your ability to fight anymore. But some think we might have gone easy on you since you're a girl." David said.

"People are going to think what they want to think. I know my abilities, as well as the demons' and the pack's. I have confidence in our ability to take out Victoria without any problems. And that's all I'm going to worry about for now." I said snuggling further into Jacob's embrace.

"You teach your hellhounds a new trick, Bells?" my dad asked.

"Of course, you don't stop improving do you?" I asked a smile lighting up my face.

"It was kind of unfair to use your fire like that to blind us." He said, his eyes narrowing.

"Every advantage, Dad. My Gramps taught me that." I said cheekily before he moved on to find Sue to tend to his minor cuts and scrapes.

Our little crowd broke up as people went off to mingle some more with the others. Jacob squeezed me pretty hard while inhaling deeply with his nose buried in my hair.

"I hate you fighting." Jacob said quietly. "But I'm not going to tell you that you can't. Or ask you to stop. It's too easy to see how good you are at it. And while I'm confident in your abilities, it still doesn't stop me from wanting to wrap you in cotton and leave you at home when the battle with Victoria comes."

"Thank you for not asking of me what I can't give you. You did great though. You've gotten better in training about not letting it distract you and you did great letting me fight it out."

"Mostly 'cause I knew that if I got involved, the rest of the pack would have gotten involved, and that would have defeated the purpose of what David was trying to do. I heard what he said, I was walking up to you when he said to defend yourself. I take it from your reaction he did that a lot?"

"Yeah, he and Matthew had taken to ambushing me, trying to catch me off guard, especially when he couldn't take me down on his own any more." I explained about David and Matthew training the hounds and me. How hard it was at first and that after a while my muscle memory got better, making the whole process easier. Jacob told me about the training that they underwent when the first phased.

We continued to talk late into the night while the bonfire party continued on around us. Many people came and congratulated us before leaving. Almost everyone was gone when we broke off from the bonfire and made our way home. I winced a bit when I first put weight on my leg, so Jacob swung me up into his arms to carry me home. Billy had long since left for home and the house was quiet when we got back. We fell into bed, tired and achy from the days events.


	28. Chapter 28: Showdown

**Hellhounds and Demons**

Chapter 28

Showdown

Going back to work on Monday was hard after such a busy weekend. Sunday had been a sort of lazy day, with sleeping in and then running various errands that were needed for the house. Grocery shopping was an immediate priority. It felt kind of weird to be doing such normal things after the fantastic-ness of Friday and Saturday.

The laundry had been piling up and I immediately decreed that it would be Jacob's responsibility after getting a pungent whiff of Billy's socks. It's a good thing Jacob runs around barefoot all the time if that's what his genetics have 'blessed' him with. His puppy dog eyes wouldn't get him out of the chore either. Especially since we negotiated that I would take care of the kitchen, from cooking to cleaning, if he would clean the bathrooms. I threw in whatever baked goods he wanted a week since I was not cleaning up after the two of them. Our banter as we negotiated household chores had Billy chortling with laughter. Guess he would have something to gossip with my dad about the next time they went fishing.

Monday was back to the normal routine. Leah and I were struggling with the logistics of moving the workshop down to La Push. There was a point of contention with what to do with the forge, since it was such a huge piece of machinery. I wanted to keep it as well as the majority of the Forks workshop in tact, while Leah suggested stripping the forge completely down and transferring it to the new shop behind the Black house. Dad settled the argument with the suggestion that we create a brand new forge for each of the new shops. My suspicions about the origins of the forge behind our house in Forks was confirmed when Dad said that it wasn't that hard to make one.

Leah had just left the workshop for La Push when my dad called out to me. Quil was hovering over Dad's shoulder as Dad fiddled with something on the table in front of him. They were in front of the makeshift archery range that had been set up in the small meadow the workshop was in.

"What's up with Quil?" I asked as I came to stand next to the two of them.

"He's thinking about joining the force. Quil expressed an interest in learning about guns and I thought I would include him in our little, 'lesson'. Now this here is the smallest of the -" Dad continued on explaining about the different types of guns that were spread out on the table, but my attention was completely captured by the metal whispering to me.

Each one of the guns spilled their secrets to me like a fat kid cracking under the promise of a cupcake. I knew the optimum firing stance for each of them, how much I needed to brace myself for each one, the safety precautions needed to be taken with each. Dad had brought out for show an antique gun, which if loaded improperly would backfire causing the barrel to nearly melt.

As if in a trance, I loaded two bullets into each gun, flipped the safety, if there was one, and fired off the two rounds. There were fifteen guns laid out in front of us, but I wanted there to be more since the rhythm created from loading, flipping, and shooting over and over eventually took on a cadence that echoed in my chest.

Both Dad and Quil were open-mouthed in shock when I put the shotgun back on the table. After a moment or two, Dad shook himself out of his stupor and asked, "Bells, who taught you how to shoot?"

I looked at him as if he had gone round the bend, "The guns did, Dad. They _are_ made out of metal you know?"

Dad closed his eyes for a moment as he gathered his thoughts. His bright brown eyes held resignation in them when he opened them back up, "I guess I could have saved the safety lesson."

"I'm sure Quil needed it." I said chuckling. Quil picked up one of the handguns and at Dad's nod of approval he started loading it. "Has anyone ever made blooded arrowheads?"

"Nice change in subject, Bells. Care to clarify?" Dad said while keeping an eye on Quil, correcting his stance when he needed it.

"Well, I'm thinking I could make blooded bullets. But I would have to melt down the metal to get it in the molds. Not sure if anyone's ever attempted it before. Arrowheads would be the closest equivalent for it."

"Yeah, arrowheads have been made, but there's not many around. They're more collectors pieces since they've become so rare. No one uses them anymore." Dad answered as Quil took a quick breath and then gently squeezed the trigger. The report from the gun echoed loudly, no haze of concentration there to muffle the sound.

"Guess I'll experiment with it." I said as Quil set the handgun down. Pointing to the one next to the gun Quil had just been firing, I told him, "This one. It'll be the one to fit best in those massive paws you call hands."

His calm nod in answer was so different to his regular MO. The seriousness and reverence he had for the guns was in direct contrast to how he normally handled every other situation. I wondered if Dad had had a conversation with Quil about the importance of listening to everything he said when handling the guns. If Dad had threatened him into his best behaviour, I wanted to know the secret to it!

A tingling up my spine interrupted our strange idyll that we had been working in. I wasn't entirely sure of it's meaning, but since learning to follow my gut more, I followed my instinct and let my wings out. Turning to Quil, I asked, "Give me a boost?"

I hadn't tried to figure out how to take off from standing, so I had to ask for help whenever I needed it. Running towards Quil from a short distance away, I placed my foot in the step he had made with his hands, his fingers laced together. The push shot me up in the air, my wings taking over as I rose in height before letting them know where I was headed. I only nodded when Dad mentioned letting Jacob know I was on my way down to the rez. The flight was short, my skin tingling as I passed over the border markers. Dropping down in the middle of the key spike with it's circle of blades surrounding it, the information came to me the moment I touched down. It was Matrix-like how the information was just there and being processed.

Jacob's russet colored wolf was walking out of the treeline, making his way over to me. Apparently wolf call got better reception than your run of the mill cell phone. "Victoria's mobilized. Round up the troops. We've got a battle to fight. I'll meet you at the clearing."

Jacob tipped his head to the sky and howled out the call, several responding howls answered before he took off into the forest. _Guess I'm going to have to figure out how to take off from standing then_, I thought as I watched his furry behind disappear into the foliage.

After taking a few experimental flaps of my wings, I realized I had to be careful that I didn't drag my wings along the ground since they were longer than I was tall. A few false starts and I was finally in the air. Sending out an alert on my phone to the demons, I flapped in the direction of the meeting place.

The clearing was empty when I flew over, so I kept going. Closer to where I had felt Victoria and the other vamps, I pulled a knife and made a shallow cut along my forearm. Following along the route Gramps and I had gone over, the blood slowly trickled and dropped to the ground below. Quite a few times I had to reopen the cut, since my healing abilities closed it up pretty quickly.

Once back at the clearing, I did a few laps to get a higher concentration of my scent in order to make it extra confusing. Everyone was congregating in the north end of the clearing, just below the narrow pass that the newborns would be funneled through. I saw that Dad and Gramps had a couple of bonfires going towards the south end of the meadow. Wheeling around on my final pass, I quickly landed next to them.

"Can you save a couple of torso's for me?" I asked as I pulled my wings in.

"Sure. Why?" Gramps asked.

"Target practice." I said with a grin before walking towards Jacob who was anxiously watching me. He pulled me into his arms and kissed the top of my head.

"You got everything done?" He asked into my hair.

"Yup, easy-peasy!" I said before showing him the arm that I had sliced open. "See, completely healed!"

"Good." Jacob sighed out as the tension melted from his frame. He took a deep breath, inhaling my scent. "You ready for this?"

"With you by my side, I can face anything." I said honestly, looking up into his deep brown eyes. He leaned down to place his lips gently on mine. Tingles raced up my spine as he teased me with his tongue, gently licking my lips as I opened my mouth in invitation. My knees weakened as the rest of my body melted into his embrace as he slowly deepened the kiss. The rest of the world fell away as we slowly and sweetly kissed, exploring each other's mouths as if it was the first time. When he pulled me up into his arms, I wrapped my legs around him tightly, trying to keep him as close to me as possible.

There was an irritating buzzing noise as we continued to kiss. The buzzing noise was soon accompanied by a tapping on my shoulder, forcing me to stop where I was with Jacob. The kiss was broken with an audible pop as we disentangled ourselves from each other. I turned to see my dad standing there, shit eating grin in place, as he said, "I get that you all love each other and all, but can you save the making out for _after_ we've killed all the vamps that are out to eat you?"

My face burned as the pack and demons burst out into laughter. Narrowing my eyes at him I shot back, "You sure you aren't jealous your Beloved isn't fighting with you?"

"I want Sue no where near this place. Don't make me separate you two!" Dad huffed as he turned towards where everyone else was, the laughter slowly dying out as the seriousness of the situation resumed it's heavy weight.

I slid down Jacob's frame, barely suppressing the groan that tried to make it passed my lips. Jacob wasn't doing much better as his eyes closed and his jaw clenched. Hands fisted at his sides, he dropped a quick kiss to the top of my head.

Pointing to a tree that had been scoped out to the east of the clearing, I turned Jacob towards it and said, "If I'm not in the air, I'll be up there, keeping an eye out for stragglers. I get to make sure that we don't get attacked from behind."

"Alright, I'll keep an eye out for you." Jacob said as he walked towards where everyone else was milling about. All of the wolves perked up a bit and phased quickly, as I assumed they heard the oncoming leech army. A few seconds later I heard the snarls and hisses as the sound finally reached me.

Unfurling my wings, I took to the sky. I could see down the narrow pass as the leeches leap-frogged over each other, tripping each other up in an effort to get to the tasty 'human' first. Little did they know they were on a quick trip to their final destination.

The wolves got into formation, the older, experienced wolves interspersed with the demons. Seth, Brady and Colin were ranged behind them, mostly to chuck the pieces of vamps in the fires. My hellhounds were with them, their noses were good for finding the little pieces that might get missed. You know, like a toe, a finger, or an ear.

The snarls grew louder as the first wave of vampires trickled out of the ravine, easy for the wolves and demons to catch and rip. It was a gruesome _dis-_assembly line of carnage, that had the vamps been full of blood, I'm sure would have turned my stomach.

A bunch of vamps came out together, and when two of them veered off to the right, Paul only had time to get his teeth into one as the other catapulted over his brethren's quickly disassembling body. Wheeling down low to come up behind the vamp, I pulled out a longer knife as I reached out to grab his head and cut it away from his body. His body fell, still running jerkily as if not quite aware that his head was not attached. Seth jogged over to the body as I threw my prize towards the waiting fire, a belch of smoke as the only answer as the blaze quickly incinerated the head.

Flying up to the tree, I watched the carnage below as the first wave died out. Two more waves came through our grisly line, giving me the opportunity to take out a couple more. The silence was eerie after the loud noise of vamps being ripped to shreds. It was only broken by the quiet murmurings between Dad and Seth as they figured out how many vamps we had taken down. From what I could hear of the conversation, there were still twelve vamps as well as Victoria still to be destroyed.

I could hear the faint sound of what I figured would be the last wave of vamps closing in. Up in the tree, I watched as the last wave trickled in. Chills raced up my spine as the wave crashed against the rocks that was our fighters.

A cool breeze wafted over my neck, causing me to break out in goose bumps before a voice I only heard in my nightmares said, "Aw, did they put the food up in the tree to keep it up from the predators?"

"Victoria, don't you know? I am a predator!" I said as I snapped my wings out, using them to push Victoria off the branch before launching into the air.

Circling tightly I pulled a couple of knives and started throwing them at her, as she jumped from branch to branch on her way to the ground.

"You going to stay in the air all day, or face me woman to woman?" Victoria screeched.

"Don't you mean vampire to demon? Although since you're highly outclassed in this scenario, I can understand why you failed to mention it." I taunted her as I landed lightly and pulled my sword.

"And what do you think you're going to do with that?" She sneered as she started circling, feinting a few times to find a weak spot.

"The same thing I did to Laurent. I'm going to kill you with it." I said calmly meeting her ruses with an immediate defense. I knew that I could easily take her on, but I had a few questions to ask before she couldn't answer anymore.

"No! He can't be dead!" Victoria screeched.

"Sorry to have to be the one to tell you this, but he's gone. Or maybe I'm not sorry." I paused, seemingly taking my attention off of her. She took the bait and was a finger less after her swipe at me.

"What is this?" Victoria asked, her shock evident as she watched as her finger started inching it's way in her direction. I kicked it over towards King, who quickly ran over to the waiting bonfire and dropped it in. King nodded at me as he came back to the loose circle that he, Brimstone, Demon, Nico and Demus were sitting in watching our fight. Brimstone whined and I heard a soft _popcorn_ from his direction.

Snickering at Brimstone's odd craving, I focused on Victoria, "Like I said, this is what I'm going to kill you with."

Her eyes pinged in every direction trying to find the best avenue for her escape. When she drifted a little too close to Demon, he snapped another of her fingers off and spit it towards the fire. Colin picked it up and after dropping it in the blaze, he joined Brady and Seth in the circle.

"But, why?" Victoria asked, her confusion written over her frozen in time face.

"Because you had my mother killed!" I snarled, swiping at her angrily, managing a shallow cut along her ribs. "And then you came after me!"

"But..." she stuttered.

"Did you expect me to not fight back?" I asked as I took another swipe, removing an ear and most of the hair on the left side of her head.

"You killed my mate!" She screeched out, scrambling away from me.

"I didn't kill him, Edward killed him!" I defended myself. "If anything, you should have gone after him and his family. What did you do, figure I was the weakest link?"

"I-I" Victoria stuttered.

"Did you do any research on me at all? Do you even know what my dad is? What _we_ are?" I snarled at her, my dad waving at her with a grin when her gaze darted over to him. "We're demons!"

"But you're only a legend!" Victoria whispered in disbelief.

"Too bad for you, we're not. Just very rare." I said. "Now, since my questions were answered, you can die now."

"Wha-" she managed to get out just before my blade separated her head from her shoulders. I pulled the fire over the heads of my audience and fed it to her waiting body.

Silence reined in the clearing, a bit of disbelief in how easy that confrontation was. It was a little too easy.

"So, what's for dinner?" Seth asked, breaking the tension as everyone broke out into grins and laughs.

"I don't know about you, but I'm thinking bonfire on the beach?" Gramps asked.

Sam nodded his agreement before confirming, "Bonfire on the beach!"

This was met with hoots and hollers from the rest of the pack. Jacob swept me into his arms and the rest of the world melted away as his lips met mine and I knew, this was the beginning of the rest of our lives.

* * *

**I'm so sorry it took so long to post this!**


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